A Grimm Tale (Old Version)
by solartitan32
Summary: Rewrite is up!
1. Prolouge

**Disclaimer: Rooster Teeth owns RWBY, some inspiration from Bleach and Dragon Ball, I don't own them either, all I own are my OCs. Nothing else.  
**

Prologue: Grimm Trailer

A town, seeming to smolder with brightness tinged with dark distrust. All was silent in this small town. Then came the marching of soldiers. In the middle of the night they clambered into the inner dwellings of the town. Each soldier bore a symbol, the mark of the Red Wolf. Whoever was near, were either killed or captured by these silent predators. They were as swift as the current and silent as the wind, maybe even more so. No one surpassed the strength of the two leaders.

One figure, a stocky, sullen man; the other, also male, yet smaller, seeming to be in glee over the current bloodshed, both held fierce expressions and never seemed to waiver.

The taller of the two, a wolf Faunus, dressed in dark clothing, black boots and trench coat to match. If anything, his hair was just as dark, excluding the white on his ears and tail. He gave off a commanding vibe. His dark red eyes, looking through his white, bone like mask, held an intensity that would make most men cower under. The large, bloody scythe he held in his hand intimidated even his own followers into keeping their distance.

The other figure, the one a head shorter, wore faded jeans and a dark jean jacket over a black t-shirt. He also wore a mask, similar to the first, but with sharp, pointed tusks protruding from the jawline. In each hand he held a hammer faintly glowing with energy. It rippled the air around him.

Suddenly a man burst from an alley with a hatchet, rushing at the two leaders, but before the following soldiers can intervene, the second figure turned, slamming one of his hammers into the attacker's skull. A sickeningly loud crunch thundered, the blow killing him instantly.

"Quite the party this time," The second figure spoke, his voice distorted by the mask. "It's more fun when they fight back."

"I think you're enjoying this too much, Aaron." The first figure spoke, his voice just as distorted by his own mask.

"Why shouldn't I Verdax? You know as well as I do that these pricks deserve what's coming to them." Retorted Aaron, gesturing at the corpse with his newly bloodied hammer.

Verdax, ignoring Aaron, proceeded into the chaos filled town.

"Where are you going?" Asked Aaron inquisitively, unsure of Verdax's motives.

Verdax glanced at him over his shoulder. "Shiro and the leaders of the White Fang want this done, so I'm going to finish this up with or without you." Verdax stated in an uncaring tone, "If you want something to do, go help delta squad clean up the south side." He then continued on his leisurely way, not waiting for Aaron's response.

After an hour of wandering, Verdax found himself in an already abandoned part of town. It smelled of depression and sadness with its broken down buildings and trash riddled streets. Sighing, he realized there was nothing left of the desolate place, he turned to go back and regroup with Aaron.

*Clank*

Verdax froze. He turned in the direction he heard the noise come from and saw an abandoned house. Raising his head, he hesitantly sniffed the air and caught a scent. He was familiar with this, his canine instincts pushing through. Two adult humans and the immense fear they shook with.

Smirking, he walked up to the door, channeling Aura into his fist, wrapping it in a black energy with a red outline. Cocking back his arm Verdax punched the door causing it to explode into the house, prompting screams from inside.

Seeing the adults huddled in the corner, the male shaking while holding a gun, Verdax asked with a sadistic grin hidden by the mask, "Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Monty Oum?"

The man fires the gun, shooting Verdax in the shoulder and lodging the bullet in his collarbone.

Verdax reaches up and tears the bullet from his shoulder, throwing it across the room. He stares at the couple as his wound slowly mends itself.

"Fantastic." He says coldly. Gripping his scythe with both hands he raises it to strike the adults, who have dropped the gun and started holding each other, rapidly begging and praying.

However, before the blow could connect, a voice cried out "NOOOOOOO!" Suddenly a small form came flying from the closet, and Verdax felt something grabbing the bottom of his coat.

Verdax looked down to see a little girl pulling on and crying into his jacket. Verdax lowered his scythe and stared at the child, curious as to why she didn't flee like the rest.

The adults - who Verdax now assumed were her parents - tried to stand up and grab the child, but an intimidating glare made them retreat to their corner.

"Don't hurt Mommy and Daddy!" The child cried desperately. Verdax raised his right fist, ready to end the child; it's parents' pleas turning desperate.

But he hesitated, something about this scene felt familiar. Verdax recalls a memory from twelve years ago. The memories anger him and his desire to strike the child and end the family grows, his fist shaking with his unyielding rage.

He can't do it, and his eyes widen as he realizes why.

'I'm no better than that bastard' he realizes.

Roaring with anger he extends his hand and fires a condensed blast of Aura at a nearby wall, creating a large hole in it and startling the family. They look at Verdax, unsure of his intent.

"Get out." He growls, pushing the girl towards her parents. The father hesitates, looking at Verdax as if to question what he's doing.

"LEAVE BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!" He shouts angrily. The parents, needing no more encouragement, quickly pick up their daughter and scramble out the hole in the wall.

Verdax walks outside into the street before calming down. Raising his left hand to his mask, Verdax lightly touches its edges before moving his hand across his face. As he does this, the mask seems to turn into black and red energy before dispersing, revealing Verdax's face.

His bone structure can be seen, but isn't obvious. He has a pale scar running from above his left eyebrow to below his right eye. His eyes changed from a red iris to onyx and black sclera to white.

He looks down at his scythe, recalling the lives he's taken with it and shakes his head. "No more." He states, his voice filled with regret. He then twists the handle of the scythe and watches as it collapses into two smaller scythes that he folds and attaches to his belt.

Verdax then turns, puts his hands in his pockets, and walks away, planning to leave everyone behind.

Verdax made it to the city gates without getting caught. Before he could leave, however, he heard a voice.

"Where do you think you're going?" The voice asked. Verdax turned around to face Aaron, who had both hammers in hand.

"I'm done Aaron, I want Faunus equality as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to do that by going town to town murdering families!" Verdax exclaimed, his voice full of determination. "So you're just gonna walk away from this?" Aaron retorted, getting into a fighting stance. " You know Shiro's policy on that."

"We both know you can't stop me." Replied Verdax, hands reaching for his scythes.

"I've been thinking about that actually, and I think you're all talk. You probably can't do shit on your own, so you need people like me or Shiro to bail you out." Aaron said with an arrogant tone.

"I'm giving you one chance Aaron, stand-" Verdax said before having to sidestep a thrown hammer that made a crater behind him.

"Your funeral." Verdax said before dashing forward, bringing out his scythes.

Aaron's hammer returned in time to block the overhead swing of the scythes, but a small crater was still made under him from the impact. Aaron tried to kick out Verdax's legs, but Verdax jumped, flipping over Aaron and landing behind him before whirling around, combining his scythes as he did so and slashed at Aaron, who just dogged in time to only cut his jacket.

"Dude! Do you know how much this cost?!" Aaron asked annoyed. "You stole that jacket." Verdax replied, deadpanning.

"Yeah I know." Aaron said before slamming his hammers into the ground creating a shockwave towards Verdax, who rolled out of the way and came up on one knee firing a blast of Aura from his hand at Aaron who put his arms in an "x" formation to block it.

As the blast hit, Verdax dashed forwards, swiping his hand across his face to reform his mask before charging his fist with Aura and punching Aaron in the left arm, breaking it with a loud crack, which drew a curse from him, and forced him to drop a hammer.

Aaron's arm hung uselessly at his side, leaking black blood and faintly emitting a black and red energy while he caught his breath. "Well damn, I guess you can fight. But you won't win this." He said raising his other hammer to attack. "You don't have to do this Aaron." Verdax says, almost pleading. "We can leave together."

Aaron starts chuckling, which turns to laughter. "Is that supposed to be your form of mercy? What makes you think I WANT to stop? I fucking live for this!" Aaron exclaimed. "When I'm done here, I'll move on to the next town, and the next, and the next, and so on! I won't stop until humanity pays! I WON'T STOP UNTIL THEY'RE ALL FUCKING DEAD!"

As Aaron charges forward, Verdax sidesteps and, faster than Aaron could see, charges his scythe with Aura and severs his other arm below the shoulder before kicking him to the ground.

"This fight is over Aaron, I've won." Verdax says before dispelling his mask and putting away his scythes. As he walked away Verdax felt something kick him in the butt.

Verdax turns around to see Aaron, whose mask also dispersed, trying to kick him, his severed arm having the same glow as his other. "Come on this fight's still going on!" Aaron claims excitedly. "Are you kidding me?!" Verdax shouts in disbelief. "One of your arms is broken and the other is gone!" "T'is but a flesh wound!" Aaron proclaims. "Oh my Oum." Verdax sighs face palming. "You won't stop me, you can't stop ME! I am the strongest, I WILL SURPASS YOU AND HUMANITY WILL SUFFER!" Aaron exclaimed crazily before charging Verdax again.

Sighing in disappointment, Verdax takes out a scythe whispering "Forgive me." before simply decapitating Aaron and storing the scythe again as he watches Aaron's body fall to the ground.

"I'm sorry Aaron, but you left me no choice." Verdax says sadly before gathering the hammers and laying them next to Aaron's corpse.

Verdax reaches for and closes Aaron's eyes before standing and walking out of the city and into the night, looking up at Remnant's shattered moon as he does.

 **AN: And here's my first fanfiction guys! Now this story is one that I've been thinking about for a long time and decide to write. Also Verdax's name is pronounced Ver-d-ax. I have most of it planed out, but there are a few elements I don't have a solution for, but if worse comes to worse I'll do a poll for them and let you guys decide.**

 **On that note, first poll: pairings.**

 **Verdax WILL end up with someone on team RWBY. Only team RWBY, I ship the other pairings too much. He will either and up with Ruby, Weiss (a bit tricky but I'll pull it off somehow), Blake, Yang or any combination of those four. Post your vote in the reviews (also constructive criticism is nice) . The poll will be open until April 10th at 3pm central daylight savings time.**

 **Until next time, SolarTitan signing off!**


	2. Dust Store Blowout

**AN: SolarTitan here with another chapter of A Grimm Tale.**

 **First order of business: the poll. I should apologize, I'm still new to the website, so I didn't know there was an actual poll function available to writers. That's my bad, I know it's there now and I set up an official poll to choose Verdax's pairing. Because of my mistake, I am pushing back the closing date for voting to Tuesday at 5 PM Central daylight savings time. Like I said the pairing is anyone on team RWBY in any combination or any member individually, everyone gets four votes.**

 **Special thanks to N7 Recruit, who is the first person to post a review, voting for Weiss to be in the pairing. On that note it occurs to me that I should have asked people to specify whether or not the person they choose is for a single pairing or a multi pairing, so for the moment only Weiss has a point in the polls, if N7 would like to change or specify that he can or if he wants to keep it as is that's fine too.**

 **Anyways I've taken up enough of your time, just a quick disclaimer and then enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, all I own are my OCs.**

Dust Store Blowout

Two years later...

The light from Remnant's moon seemed to spotlight where Verdax was sitting. From his secluded spot in the alley, he watched people pass by him with disinterest. He sighed, taking out a small flask of whiskey from his coat pocket before taking a swig. He then leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, unsure of what to do next.

Suddenly, he caught the scent of a large group of people nearby. Looking over to where it came from, Verdax saw a group of men in black suits with red ties led by a man in a white suit with a cane, enter a Dust store down the road.

Sighing and shaking his head, Verdax stored his flask and got up to leave, not wanting to get caught in the mess that would follow a store robbery. Before he got far however, he heard a crash and turned around to something he didn't expect.

A window to the shop was broken, one of the goons unconscious on the sidewalk, and a young girl standing in the middle of the street, holding a scythe as big as him. She was on the short side, probably a teenager, her hair was black with red highlights, she wore what looked to be a black dress with red frills poking out from under the skirt, and a corset wrapped around her midsection.

"Now I've just seen fucking everything." Verdax mutters to himself as the girl plants the blade in the ground in front of her, obviously challenging whoever was in the store. Shortly after the display by the girl, more goons started to pour out of the store and try to attack the girl.

Surprising both the goons and Verdax, the girl starts zipping around the street at ridiculous speeds, slashing at goons and firing rounds from her scythe to boost her speed. 'Interesting use of the recoil.' Verdax thought to himself. 'But she's getting cocky, at this rate she'll miss one of them.'

As Verdax predicted the last goon wasn't struck, but fell over to give the illusion he was. As the girl turned to face the man in the white suit the last goon slowly got up, careful to not alert the girl.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." Said the man as he dropped a cigarette that he proceeded to crush with his cane. "Well Red, I think we can agree that this has been an eventful evening." The man states as he glances at the goon sneaking up on the girl. "But unfortunately, this is where it ends."

During the man's monologue, Verdax was starting to walk away, deciding that he couldn't care less about the events unfolding outside that store. Or what happens to that girl.

If she lives or dies.

He didn't care.

Not for a second.

Not... a...

...

"...Oum dammit." Verdax says to himself before turning and sprinting down the street back to the shop, pumping his legs with Aura to make them go faster.

As Verdax runs, the girl, realizing what the man means, turns around to see the goon's machete arching towards her head. Before she can do anything, the goon's arm is suddenly severed and disappears. As the goon screams over the pain of losing his arm the girl backs up in shock and the white suited man's eyes widen in surprise.

"Now that was a dirty trick to pull on a young girl like that." A voice said off to the side. The girl and the man whip their heads around to see Verdax, holding a bloody scythe in one hand and the severed limb in another.

Tossing the limb to one side and putting away the scythe, he walks up next to the girl, still glaring at the man in the suit. "If I recall the recent newscasts correctly, you're Roman Torchwick, am I right?" Verdax guesses with a smirk.

The now named Roman chuckles to himself. "My reputation just gives me away, doesn't it?"

"Actually it was the eyeliner." Verdax deadpans, gesturing at Roman's left eye. This earned a laugh from the girl and a growl of anger from Roman.

"Let's see you laugh at THIS!" He shouts angrily as he raises his cane, the cover flipping over revealing crosshairs. "Son of a bitch." Verdax mutters before a small missile flies from the barrel.

The girl uses her gun scythe to push herself out of the way, while Verdax blocks the blast with his hand, the explosion creating a small dust cloud. He hisses as the burns on his hand start to repair themselves. The girl rushes over to Verdax. "Omygoshareyouokwhydidyou-"

She asks panicked, but is cut off by Verdax. "I'm fine, it'll heal. Where's Roman?" He demanded. The girl looks around, "There!" She exclaims, pointing at the top of a ladder along the side of a building.

'He's fast, I'll give him that.' Verdax thinks to himself. "Follow if you want," He says to the girl, "I'm gonna go stop him." Verdax then runs up to the building and channels Aura into his legs before jumping up and pulling himself onto the roof, shortly followed by the girl.

"Hey!" She calls out, making Roman stop. "Persistent." Roman mutters in an annoyed tone before a drop ship reveals itself from the alley below and shines a spotlight on Verdax and the girl.

Roman climbs aboard the ship before shouting, "End of the line you two!" And throwing a red Dust crystal at the girl's feet. 'SHIT!' Verdax thinks as Roman raises his cane. Verdax swipes his hand across his face, forming his mask before grabbing the girl and twisting around so his back faces the Dust as an explosion engulfs the roof.

Roman starts laughing before he hears a distorted voice. "See, people always seem to think that works, and they let their guard down." It says as the smoke starts to clear. "But in actuality," it continues as a figure stands and turns to reveal Verdax ripping off his ruined trench coat, and looking at Roman with his red and black eyes from behind the mask. "All you've done is piss me off." He growls as he grabs and combines his scythes.

"Wait that mask, that scythe..." Roman says growing more and more afraid.

Verdax channels his Aura into the blade of his scythe, the black and red energy coating it as he shouts in his terrifying voice, "My name is Verdax Ashen! I'm kind of in a bad mood so I'll skip the monologging and go straight to KICKING YOUR ASS!" Before swinging his scythe and launching a crescent wave of black and red energy at the ship, which barely dodges, cutting into the metal slightly.

Roman curses and stumbles into the cockpit. At this time Verdax glances at the girl who is staring at him in awe and fear. Turning his attention back the ship, he sees a feminine figure walk out and stare at him before launching several flaming projectiles at Verdax and the girl. Before he can intervene, the projectiles impact a purple magic circle, and a blonde woman appears out of nowhere and stands in front of Verdax and the girl.

She had blonde hair and green eyes behind a pair of glasses. She wore a white button up shirt that revealed just enough cleavage and had a cape strapped at the shoulders. In her hands was what appeared to be a riding crop.

Pushing her glasses closer to her face the new woman fired her own projectiles from her crop at the ship, making it wobble in the air. Verdax in turn fired his own blast into the wing, almost causing it to crash. The girl turned her scythe into a gun and started firing rounds at the figure on the ship, only for them to be blocked by the figure's hand. This continued until the ship pulled away and flew into the night.

Once the ship is gone, Verdax disperses his mask and stores his scythes on his belt before a blur suddenly appears at his side. "Oh my gosh your scythes are so cool! How do they attach and separate like that? Where did you learn to use them? I thought only me and my uncle used scythes!" The girl exclaimed, stars in her eyes and seeming to instantly forget the events from earlier. Meanwhile the woman was glaring at Verdax. "Whoa there pint-size." He said, trying to calm the girl down. However, she ignored him, running up to the woman. "And you! You're a Huntress! Can I have your auto-" she was cut off by the woman walking past her and toward Verdax, who rested a hand of the hilt of a scythe.

"Verdax Ashen, you're under arrest for mass murder, terrorism, vandalism, and numerous public disturbances." The woman stated with a serious glare. Verdax pretends to think, "Interesting offer, here's my counter offer: No." He tells her before walking off. Suddenly he found himself being thrown into a nearby chimney, making him spit up blood and inciting a shriek from the girl. "What are you doing!?" she cries as Verdax falls on his hands and knees at the base of the chimney.

"I will speak with you later." The woman says sternly, her gaze never leaving Verdax. "But right now this monster must be dealt with, by any means necessary." The girl ignores the woman and rushes over to Verdax, crouching by him and grabbing his arm. "Are you ok?" She asks worriedly. "Well, I did just get slammed into a brick chimney at sixty miles an hour, so I've seen better days." He grunts sarcastically.

"Did you really do all those things?" The girl questioned nervously. "Allegedly." Verdax states, still staring at the ground. "You leveled a small town." The woman retorts, voice filled with annoyance. "Allegedly." He replies. "You also took out several battalions of the Atlas military." She says getting more annoyed. "A..llegedly." He repeats. "You also took every crate on a Schnee company freighter and stacked them into a tower writing 'Sand Castle' on the side!" She exclaims, clearly fed up with him. Verdax is quiet. "Alright, that was me." He said in a defeated tone.

Before the woman could reply, Verdax jumps to his feet. "Not that our talk wasn't fun," he said stretching his arms, "Believe me, it was a great time killer, but I've recovered now, so I'm just gonna leave. Unless, you're still determined to stop me?" The girl looked between Verdax and the woman, unsure of what to do.

Eventually, the woman spoke up. "You had better get away from him Miss, or I'll assume that you're allied with him and act accordingly." She threatened, raising her riding crop. Verdax stopped what he was doing and glared at the woman in a deadly serious manner. "This girl has nothing to do with me." He stated calmly with a venom-laced tone. "Leave her out of this." "Either way, I'm bringing you both in." She said shocking both Verdax and the girl. "Why?" The girl asks, getting more nervous. The woman, still locking eyes with Verdax replies, "That is classified information, now come quietly or be punished."

"She is not going anywhere with you." Verdax growls, grabbing both his scythes and taking a defensive position. "So you intend to resist?" The woman asks, taking a position of her own. "If so I will not hold back." "Then neither will I." Verdax says as he swipes his hand across his face, forming his mask.

"You're move." He said tauntingly.

 **AN: And boom! Cliffhanger! And right before Verdax vs Glynda (don't start calling spoilers you guys knew it was her, you're smart) probably gonna get chewed out for that.**

 **Two reasons I stopped here: First, I was afraid the chapter was getting to long. Second, I'm not sure how long to make the fight, I don't want the fight to drag out, but I don't want one side to curb-stomp the other.**

 **Fighting-wise, Glynda's tough to write for. All I know is she's got telekinesis and magic, but I've got a few ideas so don't start panicking. Yet.**

 **I also don't want Verdax to be over-powered (believe me that comes WAY later. Hint: Ichigo vs Ulquiorra, feel free to theorize, let me know what you come up with) so having him match Glynda blow for blow is saying that Verdax is already as good or better that a fully trained Huntsman or Huntress. He's good, but not that good.**

 **For those of you that want a full list of Verdax's powers, that will come in a later chapter (one or two) when he talks with a certain someone (anyone who guesses right, you're awesome).**

 **Please Rate and Review! Criticism is appreciated! And share this story with your friends, the more the merrier!**

 **SolarTitan signing off!**


	3. Rooftop Showdown! Enter the Headmaster!

**AN: SolarTitan Here!  
**

 **Sorry this chapter took a while, I wanted to make sure I did it right.  
**

 **In other news, the poll has closed. The results were a little spread out, but the pairing is Ruby and Weiss. Thanks to all who voted and stuck with the story for this long.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or the elements I borrowed from Bleach and Dragon Ball. I only own the OCs.**

Rooftop Showdown! Enter the Headmaster!

Verdax and the woman glared at each other with such intensity that the girl could feel it from where she stood off to the side. Suddenly Verdax spoke up.

"Before I begin with your ass kicking, may I have the displeasure of knowing your name?" He asked in a sarcastic tone, which seemed to incite more anger from the woman.

"Glynda Goodwitch." The woman spoke through clenched teeth.

"Very well then Glynda," he spoke with a taunting tone. "Ladies first."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Glynda fired a barrage of projectiles at Verdax, who leaped back as they impacted the roof where he was standing, causing several small explosions.

"Damn, you don't pull punches, do you?" He said as more projectiles sped towards him. "Guess not." he mutters before jumping to another roof, landing with a roll as the ground behind him explodes.

Verdax proceeded to leap from rooftop to rooftop, each one exploding behind him. As he's running, Verdax notices the barrage lessening in its intensity. Taking the advantage, he whips around and fires a powerful blast of aura at Glynda who halts the barrage altogether and throws up a magic circle to act as a shield.

The blast impacts the shield with thundering force, spreading black and red energy all over the rooftop. Verdax rushes forwards, firing blast after blast, each similar to the last, and each hitting the shield with the same force.

Once he's close to Glynda, Verdax pushes Aura into his legs and dives to the side, planting his scythe blade in the roof as he does so. Using the scythe as a pivot, Verdax swings around the shield, his legs outstretched.

"Aaaaaand face!" He shouts as his feet make contact with Glynda's head, knocking her across the roof and into a chimney with a loud crack, inciting a shriek from the girl, who hid behind it after the fight started.

"Sorry Red!" He calls out, afraid he hurt her.

"I-I'm good!" She replies, a bit shaken up, as Glynda stands, blood trailing from the left side of her face.

"Well THAT'S gonna be sore in the morning." Verdax said, earning a growl from Glynda.

She raises her crop, causing debris from the explosions to glow and collect, forming three large spears. "Ok, I call bullshit." Verdax cries as the spears fly at him form different sides.

He releases a wave from his scythe, cutting one in half before launching himself over another to destroy the with an Aura-infused punch and flipping over to blast the second into pieces as he lands on the roof.

Suddenly he's knocked to the ground by the first spear, which reformed almost immediately after his attack, and pressed against the ground by the other two, who's jagged surfaces cut into his clothes and skin and cracking his mask.

Verdax released a pulse of Aura from his body, creating a shockwave that knocked back the debris and created a strong burst of wind. He leaped to his feet, revealing shredded clothes, torn skin that was leaking black blood and slowly mending, and a cracked mask with the left half having fallen off completely, his red and black eye clearly seen.

"Ok," he said, taking deep breaths, "This might be harder than I thought." Glynda waved her crop, reforming the spears and creating storm clouds, which started shooting sharp ice crystals.

"Fuck me sideways." Verdax mutters as he fires blast after blast of Aura at the spears, breaking them, only for them to reform just as quick, while he tried to doge the ice, only to receive more cuts on his skin, causing his blood to pool at his feet.

Unknown to Verdax, Glynda created another spear, which she shot at him from behind while he was distracted. "Watch out!" The girl cried. This caused Verdax to whip around, only for the spear to pierce his abdomen, creating a six-centimeter hole through his stomach.

The girl screamed as Verdax went to his knees, using his scythe to balance himself as he spit out his own blood onto the ground.

"Fuck..." He muttered out through a blood-filled mouth. Glynda slowly approached him as the girl watched from the side in horror.

"A good effort boy, but not enough." Glynda says, her voice full of disdain. "You have lost, and will pay for your crimes, do you have any last words?"

"Just...two." He says between heavy breaths, "Fuck...you." Before slamming an Aura-infused hand into the ground, causing it to crack and making Glynda lose her footing before he pushed a massive Aura blast against her, launching her across the across the roof, making a large crater on impact.

Verdax takes the opportunity to focus his Aura into his wound in his stomach, stopping the blood flow. "That should be good for now." He mutters, separating his scythes as Glynda climbs out of the crater, clothes torn, glasses broken and cuts littering her body.

"I'm ending this!" She shouts, raising her crop, gathering debris. But instead of spears, they form a massive sword, which speeds towards Verdax. Taking a deep breath he blocks the sword with his scythes, the force pushing him back a few feet.

The sword proceeded to swing at Verdax, who filled his arms and legs with Aura to fortify himself against the blows. This continued until the sword split into two, slashing into his shoulders, creating a spray of blood and making his arms sag. The swords kept swinging at Verdax who barely managed to block most of the attacks, still getting several cuts from them. One sword lashed at his leg, forcing Verdax to take a knee, barely blocking the following overhead swing with his scythes.

His arms started to feel heavy, and the swords started to lower towards his head. 'Think Verdax think!' He shouts to himself as the swords came a centimeter to his face. He glances at Glynda, who is glaring at him with a burning hatred, and at the girl, who is staring at the events unfolding with tears in her eyes. Seeing her cry like that made Verdax feel something he hasn't felt in a long time, like he failed.

'No, I won't abandon her. Now here, not now.' He thinks, steeling himself. 'I won't let this witch bitch take her!' He looks at Glynda once more, before releasing the metaphorical floodgates.

Pumping himself full of as much Aura as he can, surrounding himself in his black and red energy. He slashes his scythes across each other in a scissors fashion, breaking the swords in half before releasing a pulse to scatter the debris far and wide.

Then he did something that shocked Glynda and the girl, he threw down his scythes and rushed forwards, charging his first with as much Aura as possible. Glynda threw up a barrier just before Verdax hit it with the force of a freight train.

Black and red energy flew in every direction with the force of a hurricane, filling the rooftop and shooting into the sky. Verdax stood braced in front of Glynda's shield, fist still connected to it, pumping out Aura and causing it to crack under the pressure. 'Just a little more.' Verdax thinks through gritted teeth as feedback from the blast passes along his skin, burning it slightly.

More cracks formed in the shield and his mask started to break apart more. 'I just need more pressure.' He thinks as he pours more Aura into his fist causing the cracks to spread and the burns to worsen. With a determined yell at the top of his lungs, Verdax rears back his fist again and with another punch, shatters the shield completely. 'Yes!' He shouts to himself.

Time seemed to slow down as Verdax looked to see the shocked and fearful look on Glynda's face. Smirking at the expression, he extends his left hand, aiming to jab it into her chest, piercing her heart.

Time returned to its normal pace though, as Verdax suddenly felt weak, falling forwards into his face, his mask shattering on impact. Glynda and the girl were speechless, both staring at the body that lay at Glynda's feet. Glynda recovered first, shaking her head.

"Foolish boy," she sighed. "You used up all your Aura and exhausted yourself."

Verdax turned his head to give her a spiteful look, his eyes returning to normal before spitting out some of his blood on her torn up boot. Eye twitching in annoyance, she formed another sword before saying, "You did get further in this fight than most, take some pride in that."

"Go to Hell, witch." Verdax growled.

"Save me a spot." She retorts, raising the sword to strike him down as Verdax closes his eyes 'I failed, I'm sorry Red.' He thinks to himself.

The girl is about to intervene when, just before the blade pierces his skin, a voice calls out.

"Glynda! That's enough!"

The girl, Glynda, and Verdax look to see a man in a dark green suit. He had grey hair and a green scarf around his neck with a cross pin in the middle. He wore glasses and held a cane and a cup of coffee.

"But Ozpin-" Glynda began before the man, now named Ozpin, raised his hand, silencing her. "I am well aware of how you feel about Verdax, but I explicitly told I wanted to talk to the boy. Not kill him!" He shouts, clearly mad with his subordinate.

As they argued, the girl came out from behind the chimney and helped Verdax into a sitting position. "Are you okay?" She asked him ask his cuts started to mend more slowly due to a lack of Aura. "Once my Aura replenishes itself I'll be fine." Verdax replies. "Don't worry about me."

The girl looks at him before asking, "Why did you do so much to try and save me?" Before Verdax could answer, they turned their attention to the argument.

"Enough!" Ozpin's voice rang out among the destroyed rooftops.

"Ms. Goodwitch," he stated his voice dangerously close to anger. "Your opinion has been noted and taken into account, however, this is not your decision to make. As the headmaster it is mine, now help me take these children to the police station where I will hear them out before I make my decision." Glynda only nodded, clearly unhappy about the current situation, but went along with it.

Ozpin walked up to Verdax, who was helped to his feet by the girl, arm slung over her shoulder and leaning on her, and spoke solemnly "I apologize for my assistant, she was supposed to collect both of you so wee could have a chance to talk, but she got... carried away."

Verdax look him in the eye before replying. "That's an understatement, does she always try to kill people you want to talk to? If so I can't imagine you have many conversations." Earning a glare from Glynda and a smirk from Ozpin. "Anyways, why did you go through so much effort to talk to us?" Verdax asked, gesturing to himself and the girl.

Ozpin looked Verdax in the eye and said, "I get into why I want to speak with the girl later, but as for you, I want to make an offer." This earned a snort from Verdax, "And what do you have that I want?" He asked, doubt in his voice.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee before stating, "A chance at redemption." Verdax was silent, the girl looking between him and Ozpin. After a while, Verdax spoke.

"Alright Ozzie, let's talk."

 **AN: BOOM! What a fight!**

 **Admittedly I kind of wrote myself into a corner with this fight because I wanted Verdax to seem strong, but not overpower him into bitch-slapping Glynda. In the end I decided to base the fight around two aspects.**

 **First, Glynda would underestimate Verdax and not go all out, which let him have the upper hand. Second, Verdax had used up his entire Aura throught the night, mostly in that last ditch effort to break her shield but still put Glynda in a position where she COULD be killed, proving at least that he has potential.**

 **In the end it came down to Ozpin intervening before Verdax was killed.  
**

 **Please leave a review! I enjoy reading them and getting feedback.**

 **Next Chapter: It's All in the Past**

 **SolarTitan signing off!**


	4. It's All in the Past

**AN: SolarTitan here!**

 **Well this is one of the chapters I was looking forward to writing because it explains Verdax's past. That's right! Any and all questions about his powers should be answered here. Message me or post a question in the reviews if you have one.**

 **Word of warning, his past gets kind of dark.**

 **Also, anyone who is annoyed that I haven't called Ruby by her name, that's because Verdax never actually heard it, until now. And I finally posted an image for the story!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or the elements I borrowed from Bleach and Dragon Ball. I only own the OCs.**

It's All in the Past

Verdax sat in a chair in an interrogation room. Ozpin got him bandages to wrap up his wounds until his Aura healed them. Ozpin was also nice enough to get him new clothes. No whiskey though, to his disappointment. The girl sat to his left, a bit nervous about what's going on. Together they sat in awkward silence, waiting for Ozpin to come back for their talk.

"So Red," Verdax began, trying to break the silence. "What's your real name?" The girl perked her head up before answering.

"Ruby Rose." She said with a smile. "Nice name." Verdax replied with a smirk. "My name's Verdax Ashen, though I guess you kind of know that by now." Ruby replies with a giggle and Verdax begins thinking. 'Rose, why is that name so familiar? Where did I...' He trailed off, eyes widening as he remembers a woman that looked like Ruby, but older, wearing a torn white cloak. 'Oh Oum, Ruby, I'm so...' Suddenly the door opens, revealing Ozpin walking in, carrying a plate of cookies with Glynda walking behind him.

As he set down the plate, Ruby hesitantly takes one, eating it before shoveling the rest in her mouth. Verdax just stared at her in amazement before Ozpin gave a short cough to catch his and Ruby's attention. "Mr. Ashen," he began. "I'll speak with you in a moment, but first I have some questions for Miss Rose." Verdax nods and gestures for him to proceed.

Glynda then pulls out a tablet, which begins to play footage of Ruby fighting the mobsters who were robbing the dust store. "Where did you learn to do this?" Ozpin asked Ruby, taking a seat across the table. "S-Signal Academy." She replied nervously.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Ozpin asked, surprise clear in his voice. Verdax leaned in, curious to the answer as well. "Well, one teacher in particular, my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher there when he's not doing missions. I was garbage before he started teaching me. Now I'm all..." She started making karate sound effects, earning a face palm from Verdax.

"But why is a girl like you at a school for warriors?" He asked, causing everyone in the room to look at him. "Come on, I'm not the only one thinking it." He says. "Well," she began. "I want to be a huntress."

"You want to slay monsters." Ozpin noted. "Well I want to get into Beacon. You see my sister's starting this year and she wants to be a huntress and I wanna be a huntress cause well you know I wanna help people. I know there are the police but the life of a huntress is just romantic and exciting and awesome! Ya know!" She rants excitedly.

Verdax noted that Ozpin had a curious look on his face. "Do you know who I am?" He asked her. "You're Professor Ozpin," she replies. "You're the headmaster at Beacon."

"You want to come to my school?" He asks with a hint of amusement in his voice. "More than anything." Ruby states confidently.

Ozpin glances at Glynda before saying "Well okay."

The room is silent for a good ten seconds before Ruby jumps to her feet, stars in her eyes. "REALLY!?" She shrieks loudly, making Verdax cover his ears with a wince.

Ozpin chuckles. "Yes really." He says, fishing a small tablet out of his coat and handing it to her. "This is your scroll. It has your pass for the airship leaving tomorrow at nine AM. I'll expect you and your sister to be on it." He said.

Verdax could tell Ruby had died and gone to heaven.

"Now Miss Rose, you can either go home and rest, or..." He paused as Ruby turned her attention to him. "You can stay and listen to what Mr. Ashen has to say." This got Verdax to raise an eyebrow. "You see Mr. Ashen, I want to hear your life story and I believe she has a right to know as well, given what's happened tonight." Verdax was quiet as the others in the room stared at him expectantly.

"Why do you want to know?" He asks, his tone deadly serious.

Ozpin leans forwards before speaking. "Two years ago, authorities found a family claiming to be survivors of a city-wide massacre. They described you and another like you leading that attack. The family said you let them get away, then they watched you kill your... partner." Verdax was silent. "Then," he continued. "For two years, there are reports of someone matching your description moving across Remnant, attacking various places, stores, military compounds, and Schnee Dust factories. The only connection between any of these events, are that the only casualties were those that had a past with the White Fang."

"What's your point?" Verdax said dryly. "My point, Mr. Ashen, is that I'm trying to determine if your an ally," Ozpin paused. "Or a threat. I'm hoping your past can reveal that for us."

Verdax stares at the table. "I get what happens if I'm a threat, but what if I'm an ally?"

He questions. Ozpin smirks, "I'll decide that if it's the case, but for now, tell us your story."

Verdax takes a deep breath. He thinks back, memories of pain, death, and dozens of Grimm charging him as he cowered, screaming and what started it all.

He looked Ozpin dead in the eye, and said in a serious and painful tone, "I was born in Vale, but my dad got a job in a village called Lightway. He was fired on the first day because he was a Faunus. With no money we couldn't even move back. It turned out our family was the only Faunus family in the whole village because it was pro-human. We got by because my parents did odd jobs for minimal money."

He took a deep breath and continued. "One day I was playing in our yard when some neighborhood children came up and started bullying me. My dad chased them off, but later that night the towns people broke into our house. My mom hid me in a crawl space under the floor, where I watched my parents get dragged away." He started shuddering with every breath. He looked down at the table, hands gripping his knees until his knuckles turned white.

The room was quiet as Ozpin gestured for him to continue. "I followed them," he said. "They had gone to the town square where I... I..." He said between deep breaths. "I watched my parents get lynched. Law enforcement looked the other way, and my parents died, right in front of me! The worst part? It was those bastard kids, they FRAMED my parents for beating them and suckered the whole town into killing them." The room was dead quiet; Ruby actually had tears in her eyes.

"Six months later, I was picked up by a secret branch of the White Fang." Verdax continued, calming down. "They were scientists who allied themselves with using force to get Faunus equality. It's because of them that I can do this."

He slashed his hand across his face, forming his mask, which he took off his face and placed on the table. It looked vaguely human, it was bone white with jagged teeth along the mouth and two red lines that seemed to faintly glow starting at the temple areas, trailing down over the eyes and mouth, ending at the chin area. The other three in the room looked at it with various expressions, Ozpin was curious, Glynda seemed angered, and Ruby was nervous.

Ozpin picked it up and studied it. "A Grimm mask?" He questioned as it dissipated into black and red energy. Verdax nodded. "The group that took me were turning kidnapped Faunus children into Grimm hybrids to use for combat." He said. "I know because I'm one of them, I am a Grimmling, a Beowolf Grimmling to be exact."

"That's impossible!" Shouted Glynda. "Grimm can't be combined with other beings!"

"If it was impossible we wouldn't be having this conversation." Verdax countered. "And I didn't say it was easy. Of the thousands of children the took, only hundreds survived Grimmification."

"What is 'Grimmification'?" Ozpin asked. "The process that turned us into Grimmlings." Verdax said. "They would cut us open and replace internal organs with that of a Grimm's, our blood too. If I heard the doctors right, I got half a brain and a heart replaced."

The room fell quiet again. "After that," Verdax continued. "The survivors were locked in a room with a hoard of Grimm, and told to survive." He shuddered. "I still feel the fangs and claws ripping me apart. Suddenly, I had felt an increase of power; I started tearing through the Grimm like a maniac. Later I found out it was because the mask manifested itself, almost like it was trying to keep me alive."

"What does the mask and being a Grimmling do for you?" Ruby asked. Verdax turned to her.

"My semblance is that a wound inflicted by my Aura can't be healed under any circumstances. As a Grimmling, I am half Grimm; I have enhanced strength, speed and durability. I also have direct control over my Aura, forming it into attacks or redirecting it to enhance my strength or speed and as a Grimm I have limited authority over smaller Grimm and can smell negative emotions, like your nervousness and Glynda's hatred of me." He said earning a blush from Ruby and a glare from Glynda.

"The itself mask doubles my overall power, and increases my reaction time." He said proudly. "What else can you tell us about that lab?" Ozpin asked. Verdax turned serious as he continued.

"The Grimm were just the first round, the second round of tests was hunters and huntresses the scientists had captured for the purpose of testing the Grimmling's abilities." This earned a gasp from Ruby and a shocked look from Ozpin and Glynda.

"It was the same parameters as the first test. You're locked in with each other and you fight to the death, if the Grimmling won, the Hunter died and the Grimmling moved on, if the Hunter won, the Grimmling and the Hunter were both killed by the scientists via neurotoxin." Verdax continued. "There were several rounds of this, which leads me to a question for Ruby."

He turned to the girl and asks. "Does the name Summer Rose mean anything to you?"

Ruby perks up. "Yes, she's my mother! Do you know where she is?! How do you..?" She trails of as realization hits her and she begins to cry. Verdax actually pulls her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." He whispers as she cries into his shoulder. "Before you ask, I believe the one who did it was Aaron, the Grimmling I killed two years ago." He said as she continued to cry. He turned to Ozpin and Glynda, who had been silent throughout the exchange.

"By the third and final round of testing, there were only a few dozen of us. They each gave us a weapon of choice and told us to kill each other until ten were left." He said, still comforting Ruby, who had stopped crying.

"All of that was over a span of ten years. After that the project was shut down and the Grimmlings were put into the White Fang military. I served for two years before I killed Aaron and left." He finished.

Ozpin was silent. "What about the former White Fang members you killed over the last two years?" Glynda questioned.

"Former members of the project. I wanted to learn all I could, but I got nothing." He replied. "I was sitting in an alley trying to decide my next move when Ruby here prevented a Dust robbery that got my attention."

"Well if you're still indecisive," Ozpin spoke up, drawing the attention of the other people in the room. "How would you like to attend Beacon with Miss Rose?"

Verdax blinked. "Why would you want someone like me to attend your school?" He asked.

"You have potential, I can see you becoming someone very powerful. And if your story is true, then the other Grimmlings probably aren't happy that you left." Ozpin said. "That in mind, at Beacon, we could offer you advanced training and a chance to help people. You would also have a home and people you could rely on for help."

Verdax was silent, he was never one for authority types, but he'd never been to a school. He glanced at Ruby, who'd given up crying and was looking at him expectantly. Mind made up, he turned to Ozpin.

"One condition." He said. Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I won't hide who I am. If that causes a problem with students or staff I'll deal with it." Ozpin smirked.

"That is acceptable, Mr. Ashen." He said handing him another scroll. "You and Miss Rose are excused for tonight. I'll see you both at Beacon tomorrow."

Verdax and Ruby nodded and proceeded to leave. "Hey Ruby, wait outside for me, I need to talk to Ozpin." He says. She nods her head as Ozpin gestures for Glynda to leave as well.

Once they are alone, Verdax turns to Ozpin. "There's something I have to confess." He says. Ozpin gestures for him to continue. "It's about what I said about Summer. I ask that you don't tell anyone what I tell you. I'll do so myself when the time is right."

"You have my word." Ozpin says. Verdax takes a deep breath and says,

"Aaron didn't kill Summer, I did."

 **AN: Plot Twist!**

 **The idea that Verdax killed Summer was actually the first thing that came to mind when I thought of using captured huntsmen as tests for Grimmlings.**

 **Something I want to mention, this story will contain several OC Grimm and a concept for Grimm evolution that I'm still working on which the dragon and Salem play a big part in.**

 **You'll see the first OC Grimm soon. Feel free to send in your own ideas for Grimm.**

 **Please review, I enjoy feedback!**

 **Next Chapter: Road to Beacon**

 **SolarTitan signing out.**


	5. Road to Beacon

**AN: Fist thing I want to mention, I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided to throw Blake and Yang into the pairing. I'm not going to completely disregard the polls, so Ruby and Weiss will be the main two of the pairing. My reasoning, aside from a few requests, is that it started to feel wrong to NOT have them in the pairing.**

 **On that note, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own RWBY or the ideas I'm borrowing from Bleach and Dragon ball. Only the OCs.**

Road to Beacon

Verdax met up with Ruby outside the police station. She was looking down at her boots and smelt of a mix of joy and depression. Verdax walked up and put a hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"You okay?" He asked. She nodded, looking up at him.

"I just don't know what to think." She said sadly. "I'm happy that I got into Beacon, but now that I know what happened to mom..." She trailed off, looking down at her boots again. Verdax wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Look at the positives for now. If Beacon is half as amazing as I've heard it is, then your mother must be proud." He stated, rubbing her shoulder. Ruby looked up at him before slowly showing a small smile.

"Thanks Verdax." She said quietly. Verdax nodded.

"Here," he said. "I'll walk you home. Oum forbid I leave you alone for five seconds and you go play hero again." Earning a chuckle from Ruby.

They walked together in silence for a while before Ruby spoke up. "You never answered my question." She said. Verdax looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you do so much to help me?" She asked.

Verdax sighed. "Two years ago I let a family walk away from a city-wide massacre because I realized I was the monstrous freak humanity made us Faunus out to be." He said with a hint of regret. "Honestly, when I saw you outside that dust store, I tried to convince myself I didn't care what happened to you." This earned an adorable pout from Ruby. "But, I realized I did care, and as I sprinted towards you I decided something." He took a deep breath. "If I was going to be a monster, then I would be MY kind of monster, not the monster society says I am."

He said confidently. He looked to Ruby who was smiling. "Well you're the best monster I've ever met!" She said with a giggle. "Thanks Rubes." He said with a smirk as he rubbed her head, earning a blush from her.

"My turn for a question." Verdax said. "Why were you so willing to help me?" He asked as Ruby, who looked like she was trying to think.

"Well, before I found out you were a wanted criminal, you saved my life and took two explosions for me." She said, looking up into the sky. "So you couldn't really be too bad if you did all that willingly." Verdax looked at her, he didn't smell and false information in her words, so they had to be true.

"Thanks." He said smiling. Ruby looked at him with a curious face. "What for?" She asked. Verdax looked at her. "For being the first friend I've had in a long while." He said with a smirk.

For the rest of their walk, the two made small talk and showed each other their scythes.

Ruby's Crescent Rose was like a mechanized anti-material sniper rifle with a scythe blade at the end. Verdax made a mental note not to anger her. Verdax's scythes were simple one-handed scythes with a silvery steel blade and wolf designs on the handles. He showed Ruby how they interlocked into a larger scythe slightly bigger than Crescent Rose.

"Do they have names?" Ruby asked. "Yeah, when they're separate, they're called Alpha and Beta and when they combine its name is Omega." He replied. "Cool!" She said with stars in her eyes. Eventually, they reached the small house that Ruby and her sister were renting while in Vale.

"Here we are." Ruby said pointing at the building.

"Okay, have a good night and I'll see you on the airship." Verdax said walking away.

"Where are you going?" Ruby called out.

"I'm gonna go find a nice alley to sleep in, what else?" He called back over his shoulder. "You sleep in alleys?" She asked. "I sleep where I can, but seeing as I'm staying in the city, where else would I sleep?" He replied.

Ruby looked down at her feet, shuffling them nervously. "You could stay with me." She said with a light blush. Verdax raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to bother you." He said. "N-No, no it's okay! It's the least I could do!" She said quickly.

Verdax thought for a moment. 'It would be nice to sleep on furniture.' He thinks. "Okay if you're sure." He said, earning a smile from Ruby. "Great!" She shouts. "Come on in." Together they walk to the door, Ruby going in first, Verdax following her.

"Yang, I'm home!" Ruby calls out. Verdax looked around the house's living room. "Ruby?" A feminine voice calls back. Verdax hears footsteps down a hall. "Ruby where were you? Why did you come home so late?! What were you..." The voice trailed off as it entered the room.

Verdax turned to see a girl with blonde hair and lilac eyes. She wore a brown jacket over a yellow shirt that showed off her cleavage and midriff. She had black short-shorts and what Verdax could only describe as a lilac butt-cape around her belt. She wore brown knee-high boots with orange socks and a lilac scarf around her left calf. She froze in the doorway, starring at Verdax.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "I'm sorry I'm late, but you won't believe what happened tonight!" She noticed her sister wasn't paying attention and followed her gaze to Verdax. "Oh right! Yang, this is Verdax." Yang's eyes seemed to widen and her skin paled. Verdax could smell her fear.

"Verdax, this is my sister Yang." "Nice to meet-" Verdax was cut off by Yang grabbing her sister and dragging her out of the room.

Verdax, unsure of what to do, listened in on their conversation.

"Yang, what are you doing?!" Ruby demanded.

"Ruby, why is there a dangerous murderer in our house!?" Yang asked.

"Yang he's not like that he's really nice!" Ruby countered. "He needed a place to sleep-"

"So you just said 'Hey wanna stay at my place and eat me while I sleep?'?" Yang retorted. "Rubes I know you mean well but that guys is dangerous! He's-"

"Been involved in several murders, wiped out battalions of Atlas troops, and messed with several Schnee Dust transports. I've heard the list." Ruby said sarcastically.

"If you know all that then why is he here!?" Yang shouted.

At this point Verdax decided he had enough. Swiping his hand across his face, he materialized his mask and hid by the door frame.

"He's here because he saved my life!" Ruby shouted. That got Yang to shut up.

"Yang, if you just got to know him I'm sure you'd see he's a nice guy. Could you please try?" She pleaded. Yang sighed. "Fine." She said turning around.

As she did she came face to face with Verdax's masked face. Verdax looked Yang in the eye, opened his mouth and his mask along with it and said, "Boo."

Yang shrieked and leaped up and back about five feet, falling back on her butt with a thump. Verdax and Ruby started laughing, as Verdax dispersed his mask. Yang stood up, looking pissed. "You should have seen your face!" Verdax laughed, holding his sides.

Yang growled and started walking towards Verdax, but a quick glare from Ruby stopped her before she could do anything. Sighing, she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you." She said through a forced smile. Verdax, who had calmed down, grasped her hand only to be pulled in close.

"Listen," Yang growled in his ear. "For Ruby's sake I'll trust you for now, but if you hurt her, even by accident, you will pay. Understand?" "I got it." Verdax replied. They pulled apart and looked at Ruby, who was watching the whole exchange.

"Well that was fun, but I'm getting sleepy." Verdax said yawning. Ruby sprinted away and came back with a pillow and a sheet.

"Here, you can sleep on the couch." She said, handing him the items. Verdax took them and left the room. "I'll let you two catch up." He said as he left. Going to the couch he took off his shoes and put Alpha and Beta on the coffee table before lying down on the couch and falling asleep to the sisters' conversation.

The Next Morning, On the Airship

"Oh I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Yang shouted as she pulled her sister into a tight hug.

Verdax leaned on a railing off to the side, watching with an amused smirk.

"Please stop." Ruby groaned out.

"But I'm so proud of you!" Yang says, letting go of Ruby. "You and Verdax stopped a Dust robbery by yourselves! Everyone's gonna think you're the bee's knees."

"I'm gonna ignore the fact that you said 'bee's knees'." Said Verdax earning a glare from Yang.

"Come on," Yang said turning back to her sister. "Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited. I just don't want everyone to think I'm special because I got moved ahead." Said Ruby.

"You are special Rubes." Yang replied reassuringly.

"You got moved ahead two years." Verdax said. "People will think you're special anyways. At this point all you can do is try you're best." Ruby gave him a nervous smile. Suddenly a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch came up at the terminals.

"Attention passengers," She said. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, in a few moments you will be arriving at Beacon, where you will begin your formal training as hunters and huntresses." The hologram then disappeared, and passengers began to crowd the windows, looking out onto the city below.

"Wow." Said Ruby. "You can see Signal from here!" Yang put an arm around her shoulders and Verdax leaned on the railing.

Hearing a noise, Verdax turned and saw a blonde kid in armor run past the trio, looking like he was going to puke. " I guess the view isn't for everyone." He said as the blonde emptied his stomach's contents on the floor.

"Yang, it's on your shoe!" Ruby exclaimed. "GrossGrossGrossGrossGross!" Yang repeatedly cried, trying to back away. "Get away from me!" Ruby cried. The whole scene unfurled before Verdax, who couldn't help but laugh.

'Maybe this won't be so bad.' He thinks.

 **AN: Probably not my best chapter, but it's going to get better from here on out. I promise.**

 **This Chapter was never meant to be long, it was just a meet Yang and go to Beacon filler. Next chapter, things pick up.**

 **I also tried to fit in a little Verdax x Ruby in here. It feels weird writing a character like Ruby experiencing romance.**

 **Please review, I enjoy feedback!**

 **Next Chapter: The Gang's All Here! (But No One Knows It)**

 **SolarTitan signing off!**


	6. Arrival with Fireworks

**AN: Sorry this chapter took so long. I've got a lot of stuff going on so updates may take more time than usual.**

 **Thanks to those who reviewed.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own RWBY or the ideas I'm borrowing from Bleach and Dragon ball. Only the OCs.**

Arrival with Fireworks!

The airship came in for a landing at the docks in front of Beacon. As the doors opened, students started pouring out, including a certain blonde knight who emptied his stomach into a nearby trash can. Verdax, Ruby, and Yang walked out to the courtyard.

"Wow." Ruby said, looking up at Beacon.

Verdax was in awe. "This place is like a freaking castle!" He exclaimed.

The school was a large compound, filled with beautifully designed buildings and a massive tower at the center. "The view from Vale has nothing on this." Yang agreed.

People soon started walking past the trio. "Oooh!" Ruby squealed, turning into a chibi version of herself.

"Oooh! Yang, that kid has a collapsible staff!" She shrieked in excitement. "And he's got a fire sword!" Ruby started floating after said fire sword before Yang pulled her back.

"Calm down Ruby, they're just weapons." She said.

"Just weapons?!" Ruby said, turning to Yang. "They're not 'just weapons' they're apart of us, an extension of ourselves!"

"Then why not swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang asked.

"Of course I like Crescent Rose." Ruby replied, pulling out said weapon. "I just like seeing new weapons, it's like meeting new people, but better."

"I think I just got insulted." Verdax said, drawing the attention of the two girls.

Yang smirked. "Yeah Ruby, are you saying you only like Verdax here for his scythes?" She asked.

Verdax, playing along, put on a hurt look, folding his ears to look like a kicked puppy.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that." Ruby hurriedly stuttered out with a blush.

Verdax pulled her hood over her face. "I was just teasing Rubes." He said with a playful chuckle.

"Why don't you go and make some friends?" Yang asked as Ruby took off her hood.

"Why would I need friends when I have the two of you?" Ruby asked. As she finished that question, a group of students appeared behind Yang.

"Well actually my friends are here so I gotta go. 'Kay bye!" She shouts hurriedly as her group dashed for the school, spinning Ruby and almost giving Verdax whiplash as they passed.

'Did we just get ditched?' Verdax thinks as Ruby starts talking about dorms while drifting away in a daze.

"Ruby look out!" He shouts before Ruby crashes into a luggage train, sending boxes everywhere. "Are you okay?" He asks walking up to her. Before she can reply they're interrupted by a feminine voice.

"What are you doing?!" It shouts, prompting Verdax to turn around. Upon doing so he stares into a familiar pair of piercing pale blue eyes.

'Shiro!?' Verdax thinks as he leaps back a few feet, hands reaching for his scythes. He stopped though when he realized the person was a girl, who had ignored him and was currently chewing out Ruby for knocking over her luggage.

She was as tall as Ruby, with pure white hair that was pulled into a ponytail on the right side of her head. She had a scar over her left eye and a tiara in the ponytail. She wore a pale blue jacket with a red inside over a white shirt with a skirt around her waist and high heels. She has what looked to be a rapier with a revolver mechanism in the hilt. She held herself with a beautiful elegance, but Verdax could smell arrogance coming off her in waves.

'It's not him but...' Verdax thinks to himself. 'Why does she seem similar to him?'

Suddenly he broke from his thoughts when he noticed red dust floating around the trio. He looked to the girl and saw her shaking a vial of red Dust, spilling its contents into the air. "What do you have to say for yourself?" She demanded. Verdax turned to Ruby in time to see her sneeze, causing the dust to explode.

The bottle was sent flying, and Verdax and the girl were covered in soot.

"Are you okay Ruby?" He asked, brushing soot off his clothes. Ruby responded with a nod.

"You complete dolt!" The girl shouted, shaking off the soot. "This is exactly what I was talking about!"

Verdax turns to the girl. "Excuse me miss high-and-mighty, but that explosion was on you." He stated with a growl, pointing at her.

"Excuse me?!" She questioned aggressively.

"You're the one who shook a poorly contained bottle red Dust." Verdax sternly pointed out. "You need to keep a better eye on your stuff, princess."

"It's heiress actually." Said a new voice.

Verdax turned to see a girl with raven black hair and a bow on top. She had Amber eyes and a white top with a black sleeveless vest. She wore ribbons around her hands and forearm and a sleeve on her left arm. She had white shorts and black leggings that turned purple by the high heels she wore. Most notably, she had a giant cleaver strapped to her back. She held up the bottle that had gone flying earlier.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." The new girl informed.

"Finally, some recognition-!" Weiss started to say.

"You mean the same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners?" Verdax asked, earning a nod from the girl and a snicker from Ruby, as Weiss seemed flabbergasted. Eventually, Weiss just grabbed the bottle and left in a huff, leaving butlers to pick up the other boxes.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby calls after her.

"Forget it Rubes, she's not worth it." Verdax said staring at Weiss's retreating form. 'So that was Weiss Schnee,' Verdax thinks. 'Why did she look similar to Shiro? Is it possible...' He was broken from his thoughts when Ruby fell to her back on the ground.

"Welcome to Beacon." She muttered half-heartedly.

"Not the best first ten minutes." Verdax agreed. "But things can only get better from here."

Suddenly, he hears footsteps behind him and turns to see the blonde from the airship. "Hi, I'm Jaune." He said.

Verdax nods as Ruby stands up. "I'm Verdax, this is Ruby." He says as Ruby waves.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" Asked Ruby.

 _000000000000000000000000000000000_

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a more common problem than people realize." Jaune defended.

The trio had started walking around the school, and was now on a courtyard pathway by a fountain.

"Look, I'm sorry but Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby apologized.

"And you did cause quite the panic on the airship with that fiasco." Verdax commented.

"Well the name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and ladies love it." Jaune says confidently.

"Do they?" Verdax asked, eyebrow raised.

"T-They will." Jaune stuttered. "At least that's what my mom... never mind." And with that, the trio fell into awkward silence.

"Soooo... I got this thing." Ruby says as she pulls out Crescent Rose.

"Woah, is that a scythe?" Jaune asked, taking a step back.

"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle." Ruby said proudly.

"It's also a gun." Verdax clarified when he saw Jaune look confused.

"That's cool." Jaune said. "What about you Verdax?"

Verdax responded by pulling out Alpha and Beta, twirling them in each hand before gripping them so the blades were against his elbows and taking a combat pose.

"I've got scythes myself." Verdax said in a proud tone. "The don't turn into a gun, but they can combine into a bigger scythe."

"Cool!" Jaune said, clearly impressed as Verdax put away his scythes.

"So what do you have?" Ruby asked.

Jaune reached for his belt. " I have this sword and shield." He said, pulling out said items.

"Ooooh." Said Ruby, who closely studied the sword.

"So what do they do?" Verdax asked. Right then the shield started to expand and contract randomly, forcing Jaune to juggle it.

"The shield compacts, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just put it away." He informed, finally catching the shield.

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked confused.

"Yeah it does." Jaune responded in a defeated tone, hanging his head.

"May I?" Verdax asked, extending his hand.

"O-okay." Jaune stuttered, handing him the sword.

Verdax took a moment to study it. The blade was a simple one-handed long sword, the weight evenly balanced along the weapon. He extended his arm to hold the sword in front of him. Verdax gave it a few test swings before making precise slashes through the air, almost like he was in combat with an invisible enemy. He ended the demonstration with a powerful horizontal slash, kicking up dust and dirt before turning to Ruby and Jaune, who had watched the whole performance with wide eyes. Verdax flipped the sword in his hand before giving it back you Jaune.

"A good weapon." He said as Jaune took the sword. "You'll go far with that sword."

Jaune looked at his sword. "Thanks." He said with a nervous smile.

"Sooo, where are we going?" Ruby asked, looking around.

"We're supposed to go to the amphitheater, but I was following you guys." Verdax replied equally confused.

"You think this place has a map?" Jaune asked. "Maybe a food court or recognizable land mark?"

Verdax turned to Jaune. "The school isn't going to just have a map for students." He said. "Right Ruby?"

He turned to said girl only to find that instead of being next to him, she was down the path... looking at a mapped layout of the school.

Verdax glanced at Jaune, who wore a proud smirk.

"Not a word Vomit Boy." He growled.

 **AN: Finally done!**

 **Crushing Darkness pointed out a flaw in my writing, which I'm grateful for and have corrected. I've edited my previous chapters to avoid this problem as well.**

 **To anyone who's worried about the relationship between Verdax and Weiss base on that first interaction, you have to remember: Weiss was a bitch at the beginning of the series. It'll work out, trust me.**

 **As for why Weiss and Blake didn't recognize Verdax, Weiss doesn't know his face and Blake never met him in her time in the White Fang.**

 **Please review and leave criticism! I enjoy feedback!**

 **SolarTitan signing off!**


	7. So it Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own RWBY or the ideas I'm borrowing from Bleach and Dragon ball. Only the OCs.**

So it Begins

Verdax, Ruby and Jaune walked into the crowded amphitheater. Verdax took note of all the different students and their weaponry.

'This school is like a small army.' Verdax thought.

"Ruby! Verdax!" Yang's voice called out. Verdax turned to see her in the middle row of students. "I saved you guys a spot!"

"Oh!" Ruby said as she turned to Jaune. "I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony!" She then ran to her sister.

Verdax patted Jaune on the back. "Best of luck man." He said before following Ruby.

"How's your first day going little sis?" Yang asked as Verdax walked up to the sisters.

"Oh, you mean since you ditched us and we exploded?" Ruby questioned sarcastically, glaring at Yang.

"Yikes, meltdown already?" Yang asked.

Verdax sighed. "No we literally exploded a hole in the courtyard in front of the school." He explained. "There was some fire, ice and maybe some lightning."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked with a teasing smirk.

"I wish!" Ruby exclaimed. "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and the I sneezed and exploded, and then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling!"

"You!" The trio heard a voice from behind them, startling Ruby into jumping into Verdax's arms, clinging to him tightly and causing him to blush.

"Oh Oum it's happening again!" She shouted before blushing, having realized what she did.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" The voice, who turned out to be Weiss, exclaimed furiously.

"Oh my Oum you really exploded." Yang said with a realizing tone. Verdax looked at her. "Told you so." He said.

"It was an accident!" Ruby exclaimed while climbing out of Verdax's arms, only to have a pamphlet shoved in her face.

"What's this?" She asked as Verdax leaned in for a look.

"Dust for Dummies and Other Inadequate Individuals." He read aloud before turning to Weiss. "I don't know if I should be more mad that you're giving us this, or that your company was arrogant enough to put that title on their pamphlets."

Weiss ignored him and began to list a disclaimer over the use of Dust. Verdax had learned to tune these out while it seemed Ruby had actually tried to listen to it.

"Huh?" She said confused.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss questioned.

"No." Verdax said.

"Absolutely." Ruby replied.

"Then read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss said forcing the pamphlet into Ruby's hands.

"Look, it sounds like you guys got off on the wrong foot." Yang suggested. "Why not start over and try to be friends?"

Ruby perked up. "Good idea sis." She said before turning to Weiss and extending her hand. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies."

"Yeah!" Weiss replied sarcastically. "Then we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall dark and handsome here." She said gesturing at Verdax, earning a glare.

"Really?!" Ruby asked excitedly.

Weiss just glared at her. "No." She stated.

"Okay." Verdax said with annoyance in his tone. "I'm ending this." He then turned to face Weiss and looked her in the eyes.

"My name is-" Verdax began before being cut off by Ozpin testing the microphone.

"I'll keep this brief." He said, addressing the mass of students. "You have traveled here in search of knowledge to hone and craft your own skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Verdax nodded at this. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction." Ozpin continued. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time here will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far." He paused and looked around the room. "It will be up to you to take the first step." He finished.

The students took a minute to think over his words before he spoke up again.

"Before I leave you the is one last matter of importance I must address." He said earning the attention of the crowd. "Many of you may find this troubling to know, but whether you agree or not, it has happened, and I find it only fair to tell you myself."

This announcement made some students nervous. Verdax could smell the anxiety and confusion of the crowd. Him, Ruby and Yang, however, had a feeling they knew what this was about. And they were proven right by Ozpin's next words.

"One of the students here today, is the man known as Verdax Ashen."

The room fell silent. Verdax glanced around to see students with varying expressions of shock, the room almost flooded with the smell of fear and anger. He glanced at Weiss who actually abandoned her calm and composed stance and went pale and wide-eyed. The only people who have not been affected by the news were Ruby and Yang.

Then all hell broke lose.

Many students screamed and shouted in panic, some demanded an explanation, some started searching the room, trying to find the infamous individual. The less brave attempted to hide or back out of the room. Ruby and Yang appeared nervous about what was happening, while Verdax sighed, having expected this. Weiss was apparently in the middle of a rant.

"Impossible!" She shouted in fearful disbelief. "A criminal like him would never be allowed to be a student here!"

Almost as if in response to Weiss's statement, Ozpin spoke yet again.

"Mr. Ashen, will you please approach the stage and say a few words to the student body?" He asked calmly.

Students began to frantically look around, trying to spot Verdax. 'Time for a show." He thought smirking as he began to walk towards the stage. The room went into an uproar. Once students noticed Verdax, they began shouting at him and throwing trash. One student ran up to punch him, but Verdax caught his fist and pushed him out of the way. Eventually he made it to the stage and stood beside Ozpin.

Verdax looked about the amphitheater, noting the fearful and enraged expressions of other students. He noted that out of all of them, Ruby and Yang were nervous, Jaune seemed confused, and Weiss had the most amusing look of a gaping fish he'd ever seen. If the room wasn't full of people who wanted him dead, he would laugh at the scenario.

Ozpin gestured for Verdax to take the mike, which he did. Verdax looked around the room once again before speaking.

"Let's be honest." He said calmly. "None of you like me." This was met with several forms of acknowledgement and a thrown rock.

"Good to know." He said, unfazed. "But honestly, I do not give a fuck. Yes I have done terrible things in the past, but that's why I'm here. Starting today I'm going to be a better person, and I do not need your approval, trust or respect."

He looked at all the students who had varying expressions of disbelief or anger. "I am here to be a huntsman, and that's all." He said before leaving the stage and walking back to Ruby and Yang, who greeted him with nervous smiles while Weiss backed away, unsure of what to do.

Glynda walked up to the mike. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight and tomorrow you will go through initiation."

Students began leaving the amphitheater, shooting hateful glares at Verdax on the way out. He sighed. 'What have I gotten myself into?' He asked himself.

 **Hours later...**

The Beacon ballroom was large enough to house the entirety of the first years. Sleeping bags were provided for each student, so Verdax placed his between Ruby's and Yang's while he went to change into sleepwear. He left the changing rooms in only a pair of grey sweatpants, leaving his torso exposed and his tail out in the open. As he walked to his sleeping bag, he noticed that the students gave him a wide birth, which was fine with him.

As he approached the Ruby and Yang, he heard their conversation.

"It's like a biiiiiiig slumber party!" Yang said falling onto her sleeping bag wearing an orange tank top and black short shorts.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though." Ruby replied. She wore a black tank top with strawberry pink pajama bottoms.

"I know I do." Yang said with a teasing purr. She looked across the room before her eyes fell on Verdax. Ruby, who had noticed her sister's silence, followed her gaze until she began staring at Verdax as well.

By the time Verdax reached the sisters, they already had some drool leaking from the corner of their mouths.

"You two okay?" Verdax asked, oblivious to what they were staring at. At the sound of his voice the sisters snapped out of their trance with a blush.

Verdax sat down on his sleeping bag and stretched his arms, revealing a scar on the left side of his torso, just below the shoulder. "What's that?" Ruby asked. Verdax followed her gaze, noticing the scar.

"It's a wound from a Beowolf." Verdax said, voice full of remembrance. "It happened before my regeneration was as good as it is. It's the only permanent mark I got from fighting a Grimm. ."

The trio fell silent before Yang noticed her sister writing something. "What's that?" She asked.

"A letter to my friends back at Signal." Ruby replied. "I promised to tell them all about my time at Beacon."

"Well that's adorable." Verdax teased, earning a pillow to the face from Ruby.

"Shut up, I didn't get to take my friends with me here. It's weird not knowing anyone!" Ruby grumbled.

"What about Jaune? He's... nice." Suggested Yang. "And Verdax! There you go, a two hundred percent increase!"

Ruby sighed. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend." She grumbles sadly.

"There's no such thing as a negative friend, you've just got two friends and an enemy!" Verdax told Ruby, earning another pillow. "Will you stop throwing pillows!?" He shouted, earning a pillow from Yang.

"Trust me Rubes." Yang said as Ruby lay down. "You've got friends all around you, you just haven't me them yet."

Ruby sat up and looked across the room. Verdax followed her gaze and saw the black haired girl from earlier. She was wearing a black robe and reading by a candle.

"That girl..." Ruby muttered.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Sort of." Verdax said shrugging. "She saw what happened this morning, but left before we could talk."

"Well now's your chance!" Yang exclaimed before standing up and grabbing Ruby. "Come on Verdax!" She shouted.

Verdax waved them on. "You'll have better luck if I'm not there." He said, watching them leave. 'Oum help that girl.' He thinks to himself as he lays back.

'Tomorrow is initiation.' Verdax thinks. 'I'll be a huntsman, and on a team that may or may not want me dead.'

Verdax sighs. "So it begins." He mutters before succumbing to sleep.

 **AN: I managed to get some free time so I work on this chapter for you guys.**

 **If you guys want to, feel free to put questions in the reviews and I'll answer them or PM me if that's better for you.**

 **crazyman90: I actually never got around to watching One Piece, but I've heard it's good so I'll take what you said as a compliment. And yes there will be a chapter where Verdax get revenge on the kids and there will be flashbacks.**

 **Also RWBY Chibi comes out this month! I'm not sure what it is but I'm curious. I'm planning on making a parallel series of I think it's good.**

 **Leave a Review, I enjoy feedback!**

 **SolarTitan signing off.**


	8. Launch of Faith

**Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own RWBY or the ideas I'm borrowing from Bleach and Dragon ball. Only the OCs.**

Launch of Faith

Since the boy got here, he was always cold and left in the dark. He had little interaction outside of the room he was always in, but he was freed from this solitude briefly, but only to have his chest and head opened so they could rearrange what was inside. The pain from that experience was immense, the feeling of having organs replaced and being bled dry and filled up with something new. They only used the bare minimum of painkillers, hoping the pain would somehow strengthen him.

Suddenly he heard a noise, and raised his head while trying to ignore the pain that shot through him as he did so. Once his head was raised he saw the door in front of him was opening, allowing light to enter the room. He slowly stood and walked towards this light, only to find himself in another room before collapsing on the center.

The boy lay on the floor, crying to himself. The pain and marks from yesterday's events still fresh on his body. So he lay there crying, wishing his pain would end, when a voice came over the speakers.

"Subject 117, stand up." It said stoically.

In response to the voice's words, the boy lifted his head and looked around, the room was shaped like an octagon, with a door on each wall. Each door was seven feet tall.

Thirty-five feet from the ground, there was an observational deck that wrapped around the room. The observational room was filled with several men in white coats, but most noticeable among them was a man who stood by the intercom.

He had brown hair that was combed back, with snake like brown eyes to match. He wore a black shirt with a white coat and pants. His skin was covered in a small, scaly texture, while his eyes were full of amusement, but also apathy.

"I can't... it hurts." The boy groaned through his tears.

Another man spoke up. "Are you sure about this Dr. Aizen? It only came out of its operation yesterday." He said referring to the child. "It's recommended that subjects be given a week before testing."

At this, the boy put aside his pain and growled. "I have a name!" He shouted at the scientists. "I'm Verdax! Verdax Ashen!"

Aizen ignored Verdax and the other scientist. "Subject 117, stand up." He said more sternly.

After his defiant outburst, Verdax had resumed his earlier state of trying to ignore the pain. "I want to go home." He said through more tears.

Aizen sighed and pushed a button. Several doors started to open around the room, red eyes looking in from the darkness. Still, Verdax lay on the floor, clutching his head and chest, crying all the while.

The doors opened, and eight Beowolves walked out into the room. They looked around before seeing Verdax on the floor. They slowly approached, growling. Verdax still cried on the floor.

"Subject 117." Azien's voice rang out. "You are to kill all of the Beowolves in that room, or you will die."

Verdax's eyes widened but he continued to cry. He was still in pain from the people cutting him open yesterday. He didn't want to kill anything or even know why he was here. All he wanted was to go home.

As the Beowolves came closer, a voice spoke. " _Get up King_." It said. " _Get up and Fight!_ "

Verdax paused, trying to figure out what the voice was, but was pounced by a Beowolf.

He screamed. The Beowolf's claws dug into his leg, causing black blood to spill on the floor. Then the other seven Beowolves joined in, each pouncing on a different parts of his body. Verdax cried out in agony as the felt dozens of claws and teeth tear into his skin and muscles. He begged through his tears to make it stop. The pain went on for what felt like an eternity. He felt each and every claw and tooth as they movers through his body, severing blood vessels and tendons. He felt bones crack from weight put on them. Worst of all, he felt the Beowolves tear chunks of flesh from his body. Verdax began to lose consciousness out before he heard the voice again.

" _Pathetic, to think you really need my help."_ It said with an annoyed tone. " _You're too weak to be any King of mine, but I can't have you go and die on me now, so stand back and let me show you how it's done_."

Suddenly the room was flooded with white and red Aura. The scientists who'd turned away from the scene found themselves rushing to the windows with renewed interest, while Aizen smiled at the scene before him.

The Beowolves were forced back by the energy, and in the center of the room was Verdax. He stood, head down, with trails of the white and red Aura rolling off him in a smoke-like pattern. The Beowolves began to reproach him, albeit nervously, and Verdax began to raise his head. Most of the scientists were surprised at what they saw, but Aizen's smile grew bigger. Verdax had full raised his head to reveal the left half of his face above the mouth was covered in a bone-white mask with a glowing red line trailing from the temple to the mouth. His right eye turned black with a red iris, and his left eye was hidden in pitch-black darkness with a bright red light emanating from within the socket of the mask. He was smiling.

With a howl, a Beowolf rushed Verdax, but before it could land a hit, Verdax struck out with an Aura-infused fist, punching a hole in its torso, knocking it back. Verdax began to tear through the remaining Beowolves with his Aura infused hands, laughing like a madman all the while. As he ripped each Beowolf, the scientists grew more concerned with his power, but Aizen gazed upon the scene with pride. When the last Beowolf was dead, the Aura stopped flowing from him and he collapsed to the floor, mask dissipating before he hit the ground. While on the ground, Verdax realized his pain had stopped and the wounds he got from the Beowolves and yesterday had vanished. He began to feel weak and his vision began to dim, but before he lost consciousness, he heard the voice one last time.

" _I helped you this time but I won't be so kind the next. You better get stronger and stay alive King._ " It said almost threateningly. " _For both our sakes_."

Everything went black before Verdax could question those words.

 _0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Verdax's eyes shot open. He looked around, trying to gather his bearings. He saw he was in a massive ballroom full of sleeping forms. The sun was shining through the windows, making many of the forms begin to wake up. Most notably a redhead who started singing around a guy in a green suit.

Verdax sighed remembering where he was. He tried to get up, only to find a weight on his chest, prompting him to look down. Upon doing so he was shocked by the sight that met him.

Clinging to him like a stuffed animal and using his chest as a pillow, was Ruby, who was also waking up. She opened her eyes and looked around before she stared into Verdax's eyes. They stayed like that for a few moments before they both began blushing furiously and separated quickly. They looked away from each other with blushes still evident on their faces. They looked to each other after a moment, but before either could speak, they heard a voice behind them.

"What is going on here?" It asked darkly.

Both Verdax and Ruby slowly turned to see Yang standing over them, her bangs covering her eyes. Verdax could smell the massive murderous intent that would have scared off a King Taijitu, and the effect was not wasted on him.

"Yang I can explain-" Verdax tried to say, starting to sweat a little.

"Shut up." Yang said sternly. "I'm giving you to the count of five for a head start."

"But Yang-" Ruby tried to say.

"One."

"Yang, you can't be serious." Verdax said standing up.

"Four." She said smirking maliciously as her aura flared up, which Verdax took as a sign and started running.

Anyone else who was up at the time would tell you they saw the strange sight of Verdax Ashen, an infamous criminal, being chased around Beacon campus by a blonde girl with a burning aura screaming bloody murder and promising a painful death. The chase continued for an hour before the screams of pain were heard throughout the school, much to the chagrin of a certain black and red haired girl, who hoped Verdax wasn't hurt too bad.

Some Time Later

Breakfast had come and gone, and Verdax, Ruby and Yang were currently retrieving their combat gear from the locker room. Verdax threw away an ice pack he had against his head for the past hour as he fastened Alpha and Beta to his belt. He closed his locker as the red headed girl and green suited man from earlier walked by.

"I wonder what those two are so worked up about." Ruby said while grabbing equipment from her locker.

Verdax leaned against his locker. "If I knew I would probably regret that I did." He said with a smug smile.

"You two seem awfully chipper this morning." Yang said addressing Verdax and Ruby.

Verdax smirked as he threw a few practice jabs. "I'm just looking forward to a good workout."

"Yep, no more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff, today I let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said while nuzzling Crescent Rose.

Yang spoke up. "Well remember Ruby you're not the only one going through initiation. If you want to grow up you'll have to meet people and learn to work together."

"Uuugh you sound like dad!" Ruby said in an agitated tone. "First of all, what does meeting people have to do with fighting?"

"Well it only means learning to trust the people who will be covering your back in a life or death situation." Verdax said. Yang looked at Ruby while gesturing to Verdax. "See?" She asked.

"Second of all," Ruby continued, ignoring them both. "I don't need people to help me grow up. I drink milk!"

"Whoa!" Verdax shouted while backing up, wide eyed and hands raised. "We got a badass over here!" Yang started laughing while Ruby glared at them both.

"What about when we form teams?" Yang asked after collecting herself.

Ruby shrugged. "I'll just be on yours or Verdax's team."

Yang began to brush her hair nervously. "Maybe you should try being on someone else's team." She suggested.

Verdax grew an evil smirk, seeing a chance to get back at her. "Why Yang, are you saying that you don't want to be on the same team as you're own dear sister?" He asked in a mock-appalled tone.

Yang shot him a hateful glare before turning to her sister, who was giving her a suspicious stare.

"O-of course I do." Yang stuttered nervously. "I just thought it would help you break out of your shell."

"What the-!?" Ruby shrieked, making Verdax cover his ears. "I don't need to break out of my shell that's completely-"

"-Ridiculous!" Jaune said as he passed by the trio.

'How's that for timing.' Verdax thinks to himself. He decides to leave the bickering sisters to their argument and follow Jaune. He follows him until the blonde gets in between Weiss and another girl's conversation.

The girl was wearing tan armor with gold trimmings, brown elbow-length gloves with a gold gauntlet on her left forearm. She wore a brown skirt with a red cape and gold armor leggings. She had green eyes and red hair in a ponytail that went down to her waist with a gold crown around her head. Verdax recognized her as the famous Pyrrha Nikos, but Jaune didn't seem to have a clue. It was all he could do to not burst out laughing when he called Weiss 'Snow Angel' or Pyrrha 'Hot Stuff'.

Weiss was trying to explain to Jaune who Pyrrha was, much to Verdax's amusement, when He decided to intervene.

"Hey Jaune." He said while putting his hand on Jaune's shoulder. At his sudden arrival, Jaune flinched, Weiss backed up looking nervous and Pyrrha remained unaffected.

"Hey Verdax." Jaune said, recognizing his friend from yesterday. "What is it?"

"Jaune, I'm gonna make this easy for you. She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow cereal box." Verdax stated trying to keep a straight face.

"What?!" Weiss cried. "If he didn't understand anything else I said, why would-?"

She was interrupted by a loud gasp from Jaune. "That's you?!" He shouted in shock, eyes wide. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

Verdax turned to Weiss with a smug grin on his face, while Weiss turned away with a frustrated blush. She then turned back to Jaune.

"So Jaune, after hearing all this, do you really think you're in a position to be asking her to be on your team?" She asked as if she already knew the answer.

"I don't see why not." Verdax countered shrugging. "Here, no one is above everyone else. We're all students and no one is given special treatment."

"And I think you'd make a great leader." Pyrrha said, putting a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

Weiss put a hand to her forehead. "Don't encourage him." She muttered.

Jaune took this time to regain his confidence and began talking to Weiss. Verdax took this time to slide up to Pyrrha.

"You're the first person to not react to my presence since I revealed myself yesterday." He stated. "Why is that?"

Pyrrha turned to him. "If what you said is true, then you're trying to be a better person, right?" She asked, which earned a nod in response. "Then I have no reason to dislike you. As long as you're one of the good guys, I'll listen to you and trust you once you've earned it."

Verdax was silent. This was the nicest anyone who knew his past had been to him. Before he could respond however, Pyrrha turned her sword into a spear and threw it, pinning Jaune to a locker by his hood.

"I'm sorry!" She shouts after him.

Before Verdax can register what happened, Glynda's voice came in over the PA system. "Would all first years students please report to Beacon cliffs for initiation." She says.

Pyrrha retrieves her spear and leaves with Weiss. Verdax then walks up to Jaune with Ruby and Yang following behind.

"Having some trouble there lady killer?" Yang teased as Verdax offered Jaune a hand.

"I don't get it." Jaune said depressingly. "My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?"

"The moment you got in a three meter radius." Verdax deadpans, helping Jaune up.

"Come on let's go!" Ruby shouts excitedly, dashing off to the cliffs with the others following behind.

 _0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

The students gathered in the cliff side before being directed to platforms along the ledge. Verdax was placed on the last pad and waited for the initiation to start.

"For years you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin began. "And today, you will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda spoke up. "Many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Allow us to end your confusion. Each of you shall be receiving teammates. Today."

Verdax could smell Ruby's nervousness.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so make sure to pick someone with whom you work well." Ozpin stated.

Verdax heard Ruby whine.

"That being said," Ozpin said. "The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Verdax heard Ruby's reality break. "What!?" She cried.

Verdax nodded. "Trust through trial by fire. I like it."

Ozpin cleared his throat. "For your initiation, once you've paired up, you will head to the northern end of the forest, find the temple which contains several relics and return here with the relic of your choice. Each pair only needs one relic."

"However," He continued. "The forest is filled with dangers. You will be monitored, but instructors won't intervene. For those of you who haven't noticed, there will be one person left over once all the pairs are together."

At these words the other students looked around, noticing the headmaster was right.

Ozpin spoke again. "The initiation will proceed as normal and I will decide what to do with who is left over depending on how he or she preforms. Now, are there any questions?"

"Uh-" Jaune said, raising his hand.

"Good!" Ozpin said. "Take your positions."

Verdax noticed the other students take positions except for him and Jaune. Verdax stood there and watched each student be launched while Jaune still tried to figure out what was happening. He shot Ruby a smile before she launched and turned to Jaune.

"So what exactly is a landing stratageeeeeeeeeeeee!" Jaune shouts as he is launched.

Verdax watches them fly into the distance before turning to Ozpin. "I don't think he was ready for that." He said.

Ozpin sipped his coffee. "No, I doubt he was."

Verdax shrugged before being launched himself.

"Do or die time!" He shouts, flying through the air.

 **AN: Sorry this chapter took so long, but my life's been pretty busy so far and I've had little time to write.**

 **Before anyone asks, yes, I used Aizen from Bleach because as a character, he interests me. I feel like he probably would be a scientist for the Grimmling project if given the opportunity.**

 **Next, Pyrrha is a trusting person, I think she would at least be willing to trust Verdax if he was willing to change his ways.**

 **Last bit of news, I've gotten a few messages plus some comments from friends about my decision to throw Blake and Yang into the pairing. Normally I would shrug this off, but I figured since this story has a lot more readers now (thanks for that by the way) I will simply do another poll about pairings. Same options as the last time and it will be open until May 31** **st** **. These results will be the new official pairing so be sure about your votes. The poll is in my profile.  
**

 **Please review I enjoy feedback!**

 **Next Chapter: Trials in the Forest**

 **SolarTitan signing off!**


	9. Trials in the Forest

**AN: The polls have spoken! The pairing will be Verdax with Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Final answer, no take backs, you guys wanted this.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own RWBY or the ideas I'm borrowing from Bleach and Dragon ball. Only the OCs.**

Trials in the Forest

Verdax flew through the air thinking of how to land.

"Probably should of thought of this before I jumped off the cliff." He muttered.

The ground started getting closer, the trees about to skin his feet.

"Here goes nothing."

He reached his hands behind him and cupping them as if holding a ball. He charged a sphere of Aura between his hands, pouring what he felt was necessary. Then he thrust his hands forwards, firing a condensed beam of black and red Aura at the ground, slowing him down. Eventually he lowered a few feet above the ground and cut off the Aura, landing feet first on the soil.

"Once again sheer power solves all my problems. And absolutely no negative repercussions." Verdax said, stretching.

Suddenly there was a loud crash. He turned around to see a tree had fallen over behind him, and behind that tree was a good half mile of trench and destroyed trees and terrain caused by his blast of Aura.

"Okay, maybe some negative repercussions."

Verdax looked around, trying to gather his bearings. "The sun is there and it's still morning so that means that's east. By that logic, north is that way." With that he sprint into the forest.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Not really the best directions." He said as he sprinted along. "Find one temple in these giant woods with north being our only hint."

He came to a stop in a clearing. "Wait, how will I know it's the right temple? There could be thousands here!"

Verdax stood in deep thought when a growl snapped him out of it. He looked to see that while he was distracted, Beowolves surrounded him. The biggest of them, came forwards and looked Verdax in the eye.

"You're a big one." Verdax said, reaching for his scythes. "But you're not even a Beta-class Beowolf."

Before the Beowolf can react, Verdax combined his scythes and bisected it from its right hip to left shoulder. As its body fell the other Beowolves charged forwards. Verdax released a wave of Aura from his fist, obliterating half of them. He ducked under a claw swung by one and leaped over a tackle by another. He lands on a third's back and decapitates it with Omega.

Verdax leaps off its corpse and delivers an Aura fueled axe kick to a Beowolf's head, breaking its neck. He turns and fires a blast of Aura from his left palm, blowing a hole in another Beowolf's torso. Seeing only a few left, Verdax pours Aura into Omega and with a determined yell swings it, releasing a powerful arc of energy that splits the remaining Beowolves in half.

Lightly panting, Verdax puts away his scythes. "Well, I got my work out at least." He said. "Now back to my original problem."

He was interrupted by another growl. "What now?" He asked turning, surprised by the sight before him.

Standing before him was a Grimm about the size of a small horse. It looked like a normal wolf, but with midnight black fur and a Grimm mask on its face. The mask had a similar design to Verdax's in that it had two bright red lines trailing from the top of the mask, through its glowing red eyes, and down to the bottom, between its nose and mouth.

Verdax whistled. "You're a big one. A Direwolf Grimm, maybe a meal or two away from Beta-class. You probably think I could be that last meal."

The Direwolf growled in response.

"Well I'm not going to be eaten by the likes of you." He said reaching for Alpha and Beta. Suddenly he stopped.

"Wait, if you were going to consume me, why come straight up to me? Your kind usually prefers a more stealthy means of getting food."

As if on que the Direwolf's legs buckled and it collapsed on its side, revealing a gash on its right side, its rib cage visible.

Verdax kneeled down to look at the wound. "Now that's a battle scar." He felt a round the wound, the Direwolf wincing under him. "Dust infused shotgun wound. As a Delta-class Grimm your Aura isn't enough to heal it." Realization dawned on him. "You were after me in hopes that becoming a Beta Grimm would help it recover."

The Direwolf whined in response, its eyes slowly closing.

"Hey! Stay with me damn it!" Verdax shouted. He looked at the wound then at the Direwolf. "You're gonna owe me for this."

He put his right palm on the Direwolf's side and began pushing Aura into it. A black and red glow began surrounding the two, and the gash began closing up slowly.

They stayed like this for a few minutes until the glow died down. Verdax sat on the ground, tired from the efforts to heal the Grimm.

The Direwolf opened its eyes and got into a sitting position and looked around before its red eyes rested on Verdax, who returned the look. The Grimm got up and walked to Verdax. He was about to grab his scythes when the Direwolf nuzzled its head into his shoulder.

"The fuck?" He asked confused.

The Direwolf sat in front of him, wagging its tail and tilting its head to the side.

Realization dawned on Verdax. "You're a puppy. Probably as old as me. Not only that but close to being a Beta." The Direwolf barked in response.

"And now you've taken a liking to me, which means you're going to keep following me around right?"

Again the Direwolf barked.

Verdax sighed. "Okay how about a deal. You've lived in these woods for a long time, do you know about a temple to the north? One that a lot of people have probably gathered at recently?"

The Direwolf stood and barked excitedly.

"Okay, if you can take me to it, then you can stay with me. Deal?"

The Grimm barked happily and lowered itself, gesturing for Verdax to get on. He climbed onto its back, one leg on each side and leaned forwards, grabbing the fur around its neck for hand holds. The Direwolf stood and took off into the forest.

0-0-0-0-0-0

The two pass by trees and rocks, jumping over the occasional log or climbing a small boulder. They came across a ravine but the Direwolf jumped over it and kept going as if nothing was there.

'He does not give a fuck.' Verdax thought.

Verdax saw a few groups of Grimm; varying from Beowolves to bear-like Grimm called Ursa. He thought he saw a King Taijitu, but decided not to investigate.

The Direwolf came to a stop atop a hill and gave a short yap. Verdax looked to see ruins in a circular shape with crumbling pillars. The temple was at the edge of a massive clearing, maybe half a mile long. He saw pedestals with objects on them and some without.

He dismounted the Direwolf and stared at the temple. "If this is it, I'm not the first here."

He turned to the Grimm. "A deals a deal, although your size complicates things." As soon as he said that, the Direwolf was consumed by a red light. When it died down, the Grimm had shrunk to the size of a house cat.

"Aaaaaand you can change your size." Verdax said. "Sure, why not."

He knelt down to look at the now shrunken Direwolf who was looking at him with its head tilted. "Well if your going to stay with me, I can't just call you 'Direwolf', you need a name." He thought for a few moments. "I'll assume your a boy and name you... Shadow."

Verdax stood. "Yeah, Shadow works." Shadow barked happily at his new name.

"Come on Shadow, we have a relic to get." With that, the duo went down the hill towards the temple.

0-0-0-0-0-0

As they approached, Verdax got a good look at the objects. "Chess pieces?"

Sure enough, all the objects on each pedestal were chess pieces about the size of a flower vase. Verdax looked at each one, studying them while Shadow sat at his feet.

"Two of each in both colors." Verdax muttered.

"There's probably some psychological bullshit to go with what piece you chose." He said, before dashing over to a certain piece. "Fuck it, Black Queen."

He studied the piece as Shadow came up to him. Suddenly Shadow started growling and looking back into the forest, ears pressed against his head.

"What is it boy?" Verdax asked as he put the piece in his coat pocket. He turned to see what got him all riled up when he saw was Yang and the girl he saw his first day.

"Hey Verdax!" Yang called out.

"Hey Yang." He replied. "Who's your partner?"

Yang looks to the girl next to her. "Blake Belledonna." The girl said.

"So, who got struck with the 'infamous criminal'?" Yang teased as she and Blake stepped into the temple.

Verdax looked down at Shadow. "I guess he did."

The girls followed his gaze, eyes widening when they saw the Grimm at his feet. "Is that a Direwolf?" Blake asked.

Verdax nodded. "His name is Shadow. I healed a life-threatening wound he had and now he's determined to stay by my side. He even brought me here."

"You can heal Grimm?" Yang asked

"No, all Grimm have a healing factor. Its effectiveness depends on how much Aura the Grimm has. Shadow, while close to being a Beta, is still a Delta, so his Aura reserves are weak. I gave him some of my Aura, which allowed him to recover."

"But Grimm don't have Aura." Blake said confused. "They're soulless monsters."

Shadow growled at her, prompting Verdax to kneel down at pat him on the head to calm him.

He looked up a Blake. "Being a creature of darkness and a soulless monster are two separate things."

Verdax stood. "We can have this conversation at length later. For now just grab your relics and we can either wait for more people or head back to the cliff."

The girls glanced at Shadow before looking through the relics. Verdax gazed out into the forest, trying to spot other students when he heard Yang call out.

"How about a cute little pony?"

Verdax turned to see her holding a White Knight piece with a goofy grin on her face.

"Sure why not?" Blake said.

The girls walked up to Verdax and Shadow as Yang put the piece in her pocket.

"That wasn't too hard." She said.

"Well it's not like this place is hard to find." Blake replied.

Verdax looked at Shadow and the Direwolf returned the look, tilting his head to the side.

Suddenly an ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the forest. Yang whipped her head in the direction it came from, Blake looked up, and Verdax and Shadow covered their wolf-like ears, wincing at the noise.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang shouted. "Guys did you hear that?"

"Kinda hard not to." Verdax replied, irritated.

"What should we do?"

"Heads uuuuuuup!" A voice called from above.

Verdax looked up to see Ruby falling from the sky, arms flailing.

"Shit!" He cried out, dashing under her with Shadow right behind him. "I got you!"

Suddenly Jaune flew out of nowhere and collided with Ruby, knocking them both into a tree.

"I don't got you." Verdax said.

"Did your sister just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked.

"I-" Yang said.

"Yee-haw!" A voice cried out.

Verdax looked to see an Ursa stumble out of the tree line before falling over with a red headed girl in its back.

"Aww, it's broken." The girl said disappointed.

The man in the green suit with a pink stripe in his hair cam out Dom behind the Ursa's corpse. "Nora... please... don't do that again." He panted.

Said girl was gone however. She appeared by the relics before grabbing the White Rook piece and singing "I'm queen of the castle."

"Nora!" The man called out.

The girl, now named Nora chuckled sheepishly. "Coming Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride in on a Ursa?" Blake asked. Again, Verdax and Shadow shared a look.

A wail at the other end of the clearing drew the group's attention. Pyrrha ran towards the temple with a Scorpion Grimm called a Deathstalker following her.

"Jaune!" She called out.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried as Ruby jumped from the tree.

"Ruby?" Yang asked.

"Yang!" Ruby cried happily.

"Nora!" Nora called out.

"Shadow!" Verdax said, pointing at the Direwolf, who barked.

"Did she run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked.

Yang's Aura exploded. "I can't take this anymore!" She cried out, making Shadow jump into Verdax's arms. "Would everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

Amazingly nothing happened for two seconds while Ren tiredly walked over to the group and Verdax put down Shadow.

"Um guys?" Ruby said looking up as Yang slumped in defeat. Verdax looked up before his jaw dropped.

About a hundred meters above the clearing was a Nevermore Grimm as big as the Deathstalker. It circled the area, but the amazing part was that on its talon, clinging for dear life, was Weiss.

"How could you leave me?!" She cried.

"I said jump." Ruby stated.

"She's gonna fall." Blake said

"She'll be fine." Ruby assured them.

"She's falling." Verdax said, Shadow yipping in agreement.

As Weiss fell, Jaune leapt out to catch her. Unfortunately as soon as he did so he realized he did nothing to actually slow their fall. They landed with a loud thump, with Weiss on top of Jaune making Verdax cringe in sympathy.

The Deathstalker landed a blow on Pyrrha, knocking her back to the temple, at the feet of the group.

"The gang's all here!" Yang said sarcastically. "Now we can die together!"

"You are a ray of sunshine, you know that." Verdax said.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby called out, charging the Deathstalker.

 **AN: More cliffhangers!**

 **This chapter kind of touched on a bit of my theory for Grimm, but I go into more depth on it in the next two chapters.**

 **Review and comment please!**

 **Next Chapter: The Alpha**


	10. The Alpha

**AN: I'm sorry this took so long. I'm not the best at fight scenes and life has been a bit hectic recently.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Nothing else**.

The Alpha

Ruby POV

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby called out, charging the Deathstalker.

"Ruby no!" Verdax cried back.

Ruby slashed at the Deathstalker with Crescent Rose, only to be blocked and knocked back by its claw. She tried firing a round at its head, but the bullet couldn't penetrate its armor. She turned and ran, but the Deathstalker followed close behind.

"Ruby get out of there!" She heard Verdax shout.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out.

A caw overhead revealed the Nevermore was also following Ruby. It flapped its wings harder than before, launching several razor sharp feathers at the ground. One pinned Ruby by her cape, and the rest cut of Yang from going forwards. Verdax and Shadow, however, dogged the feathers and kept going.

"Ruby get out of there!" Yang called out.

"I'm trying!" She cried back, tugging on the cloak.

Ruby saw the Deathstalker raise its tail, preparing to strike. She closed her eyes, knowing there was no way out. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes, shocked by what she saw.

Standing there was Verdax, his Grimm mask formed, holding the stinger with both hands, his body glowing in his red and black Aura.

Verdax POV

"WEISS! ICE! NOW!" Verdax shouted.

Understanding, the heiress dashed over and stabbed her rapier into the ground, encasing the Deathstalker's tail in ice.

Verdax backed away from the tail and dispersed his mask. "Shadow get the feather out of her cloak." He said.

The Direwolf grew to his original size, startling the others in the group, who hadn't realized he was there. He then clamped the feather in his mouth and ripped it out of the ground. He shrank back down before running up to Verdax, who pet him affectionately.

Verdax walked over to Ruby, helping her up. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She replied.

"Good."

*SLAP*

Onlookers were shocked to see that Verdax had slapped Ruby, who now had a red mark on her left cheek.

"WHAT IN OUM'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?!" Verdax roared, making Ruby shrink back. "WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA THAT CHARGING A BETA CLASS DEATHSTALKER, BY YOURSELF, WOULD DO ANYTHING EXCEPT GET YOU KILLED?!"

Ruby looked him with wide eyes before lowering her head, tears running down her cheeks. Seeing this, Verdax sighed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look." He said. "I'm not trying to be an ass or anything, but you can't kill every Grimm by rushing in without thinking. I've seen too many people die that way and I don't want you being one of them."

He walked away as she nodded her head, leaving her to talk with Weiss.

He came to a stop next to Yang. "You can kick my ass for slapping your sister later."

Yang sighed. "No, I think on some level she needed that. But if you do it again..." Verdax nodded as Shadow sat at his feet and Ruby and Weiss rejoins the group.

"Guys," Jaune said nervously, looking at the Nevermore. "That thing's circling back."

Verdax spoke up. "It was startled by the power my mask gave off, but now that it's gone, nothing's warding it away."

"There's no point in wasting time." Weiss said. "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right." Ruby agreed. "We need to grab an artifact and head back. There's no point in fighting them."

Jaune smiled. "Run and live. That's a plan I can get behind."

With that Ruby and Jaune got a Knight and a Rook piece as the ice around the Deathstalker tail began cracking.

"Time we left." Said Ren.

Nora spoke up. "It's just a Nevermore and Deathstalker, we'll be fine."

A roar emanated from the other side of the clearing as Verdax face palms. "Why did she have to say that?"

From the tree line came a third Grimm, larger than the first two. It was 20 meters tall and looked like a Minotaur. It had bone-white armor on its arms and chest with red tribal designs on it. Horns protruded from its temples and curved forwards, being level with its mask. Its blood-red eyes glared at the group of teens gathered at the temple.

"What is that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oum dammit." Verdax said. "It's a Taurus."

The Taurus squatted down, putting its left foot forwards and hands on the ground, like it was about to start running.

"What's it doing?" Blake asked.

Verdax's eyes widened. "Everyone get ready."

"For what?" Jaune asked nervously.

Suddenly a red ball of energy appeared between the Grimm's horns. It built up until it was the size of a car before firing a large beam of energy at the teens.

"DOGE!" Verdax shouted. Tackling Blake and Yang while the others dove off to a side. Except Jaune, who was tackled by Shadow.

The blast flew over them, creating a violent tunnel of air that roared passed them. It collided with the temple, creating a crater and sending pieces of the temple and the remaining relics across the clearing and nearby forest. Verdax and Shadow stood back up while the others looked at the remains of the temple in horror.

"That was an Aura blast." Ren said.

"How?" Pyrrha asked. "Grimm don't have Aura."

Verdax spoke grimly. "Yes they do. And this one's an Alpha. Meaning he has more to spare."

The Taurus raised its head and roared into the sky.

Ozpin POV

Ozpin watched the tablet with interest. It showed footage of the group of teens facing off against three massive Grimm. Glynda was currently pacing furiously behind him.

"Ozpin, we need to intervene!" She panicked. "They aren't ready for a Nevermore and Deathstalker! Never mind whatever the Hell that thing is!"

Ozpin calmly sipped his coffee.

"No." He said simply.

"But Ozpin-"

"Glynda if these were any other students I would go down there myself and bring all of them home. But I'm confident they can handle the Nevermore and Deathstalker."

"What about the... Taurus?"

Ozpin turned to her. "Mr. Ashen seems very familiar with how this Grimm operates. I will leave it to him to deal with."

"But what if you're wrong?"

Ozpin turned back to the screen and sipped his coffee. "The better question is: what does it mean if I'm right?"

Verdax POV

'The Nevermore's circling around, the Deathstalker's almost free, and that Taurus is probably going to charge us if we move.' Verdax thinks to himself.

"Let's get going!" Weiss calls out.

"She's right, we can't win here. We need to go back." Ruby agrees.

"I wish it was that simple." Verdax said solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, concerned.

"You can run from an Alpha all you want but it's too smart and strong to escape." He informed them while taking out Alpha and Beta. "You guys go, you can handle the Nevermore and Deathstalker if it comes to that. I'll hold off the Taurus."

"That's crazy!" Jaune said. "You can't fight that thing alone!"

"Technically I can, the results just won't be optimal for me."

Blake stepped forwards. "You don't have to fight it. We can all get away-"

"No we can't!" Verdax shouted. "The Deathstalker will be free any second and the Nevermore's coming back. That's three massive Grimm, one of which can fly, and another that can manipulate Aura. We can't escape all of them, but you guys can make it if I hold off the Taurus."

He began to walk forwards with Shadow at his side when Ruby appeared in front of him, arms outstretched.

"Didn't you just tell me about acting without thinking?" She demanded.

"This isn't acting without thinking, this is me making sure you guys can see tomorrow."

Ruby was silent as Verdax walked past her. She turned to him, tears in her eyes.

"Please don't do this." She begged.

Verdax sighed. "I'm sorry Rubes."

Verdax looked to Yang, who met his gaze and nodded. Grabbing her sister's arm, she and the others made their way to the cliffs, Ruby telling the others to go back.

"You better come back Wolf Boy!" Yang called out as the group left, leaving Verdax and Shadow alone with the Grimm.

'Wolf Boy?' Verdax thought, as the Deathstalker broke free. It glanced at Verdax before it went after the group, the Nevermore following from the air. The Taurus was about to join them when Verdax launched a blast of Aura at its head, drawing its attention.

"Your fight is with me you bastard." Verdax said as he slashed his hand across his face, forming his mask. At the same time, Shadow grew to his full height, growling.

Both got in a battle stance as the Taurus stared them down. It let lose a mighty roar as it charged forwards. Verdax and Shadow dogged as it brought down its fists, creating a large impact crater where the two were standing.

Pumping his legs with Aura and surrounding himself with the red and black energy, Verdax dashed forwards and swung with his scythes in an 'X' fashion across its leg. The attack didn't even leave a scratch on the Taurus's thick hide. Shadow tried to bite at its arms, but the effort was just as futile.

The Taurus backhanded Verdax into a tree, which broke from the impact, and tried to grab Shadow, who dogged and started circling the massive Grimm. Verdax stood up and combined his scythes into Omega before firing a dense blast of Aura at the Taurus's back. The Grimm turned around as Verdax ran in a circle around the clearing, firing blast after blast at the towering monster. Roaring, the Grimm fired a blast of its own, forcing Verdax to leap back. The Taurus took this chance and grabbed Shadow, throwing him into Verdax, sending both tumbling to the ground.

"When we get home, you're going on a diet." Verdax grunted as he pushed Shadow off.

The two leapt to the side as the Taurus fired another blast at them. They charged forwards, Verdax slashing at the Grimm's legs and Shadow biting its ankles. The attacks were ineffective and only annoyed the towering Grimm.

The Taurus brought down its fists, forcing Verdax and Shadow back. Verdax channeled Aura into Omega, coating the blade and swung it, releasing the energy in a arc that collided with the massive Grimm. As the Taurus recoiled Shadow circled around and struck it in the leg, forcing the Grimm to collapse onto its back.

Taking the advantage, Verdax pours Aura into his legs and leaps fifteen feet in the air. At the peak of the jump he coats his entire body in Aura before rocketing down and slamming his feet onto the Taurus's chest with enough force to crack the ground under them.

The Taurus roars in pain as Verdax's Aura dissipates. But before he can move, the massive Grimm grabs him, pinning his arms, and rolls over into a crouching position, slamming him into the ground. Verdax coughed up blood as Shadow attacked the Taurus, forcing it to release him.

Verdax stood, grunting as he realized his ribs were broken. "I need to finish this." He muttered.

He charged forwards and pours Aura into Omega. He slashed the scythe across the Taurus's leg, cutting through its thick hide. The Grimm roars in pain and swings its fist at him. Verdax doges and blasts its other leg, forcing the Taurus into a kneeling position. Taking the advantage, Verdax rushes forwards and swings Omega with all his might at its neck.

Before the blow connects, the Taurus his Verdax with a powerful Aura blast from its horns point-blank. Verdax is thrown back by the blast; his front and clothes are covered in burns. He is bleeding from his wounds, drenching his clothes in black blood. He slowly rises, fighting through the pain, and looks at the Taurus. The towering Grimm stood to its full height, its right horn cut short by Omega's blade missing its mark.

Shadow attempts another attack, but the Taurus's hand shoots down and grabs the Direwolf who yelps in pain. The towering Grimm walks forwards and kicks Verdax, who is too injured to doge. On the ground again, Verdax's mask dissipates as he attempts to move, but the Taurus slams its right foot on his right arm, breaking the ground underneath.

Verdax yells in pain as his arm is shattered. He slips between consciousnesses as the Taurus reaches for him, until it pulls him up, ripping off his arm in the process, and making his vision go dark.

3rd person POV

Ruby got down from the cliff, the Deathstalker and Nevermore corpses having fallen into the cloudy abyss under the ruins.

"Well, that was a thing." Yang said tiredly.

Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren joined Ruby and the others jus outside the ruins. The group was clearly tired after their recent battles, but Ruby just pushed past it.

"Come on! We need to go find Verdax!" She yelled.

"We can't." Weiss said through deep breaths.

"But..."

"Ruby," Yang said calmly. "Everyone here is in no shape to fight another giant Grimm, that includes you."

Jaune steps forward. "Besides if that Grimm is as strong as Verdax said, we have to consider that he didn't..."

Ruby whirled around to face him. "Don't say that! Verdax is too good to die like that!" She cried with tears in her eyes.

Before anyone could say more, a shape flying out of the forest and hitting a pillar of the ruins before falling to the ground interrupted them.

"Isn't that Shadow?" Blake asked.

Sure enough it was the Direwolf that stayed behind with Verdax. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, his fur was singed, and his breathing was labored.

"If he's here, then that means..." Weiss trailed off, looking back to the forest.

From the tree line came the Taurus. It was covered in marks and wounds and its right horn was cut short. What drew everyone's attention however was the form in its right hand. Upon closer inspection, the group realizes that it's Verdax, who looks bloody and broken, and is missing his right arm and still had Omega clutched in his left hand.

Ruby falls to her knees at the sight. "VERDAX!" She cries.

 **AN: It will be a while before I update my other story; I'm having some writer's block.**

 **Please leave a review!**

 **Next Chapter: Initiation Ends**


	11. Initation Ends

**AN: The conclusion to the Initiation Arc!**

 **I got back from RTX yesterday and the RWBY panel was amazing! The trailer for volume 4 was fantastic! I'm looking forward to what happens in the future.**

 **But that's still a ways off. For now, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OCs, nothing else.**

Initiation Ends

Ozpin POV

"Glynda gather the other teachers and get to the ruins." Ozpin said in a commanding voice.

Glynda left in a hurry as Ozpin looked back to his screen that showed Ruby and the others facing off against the Taurus.

"Oum help them." He whispered.

0-0-0-0-0-0

The Taurus roared at the group of teens before him and threw Verdax on the ground, inciting a small moan from the broken boy.

The teens stare at the body; shocked at the state their friend is in. Jaune is the first to snap to reality.

"He needs cover." He commanded. "Spread out and keep that Grimm distracted. Ruby, use your speed to get Verdax once he's alone."

The others, who'd heard Jaune, nodded before splitting up. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren went left while Weiss, Blake, and Yang went right, both groups firing their respective weapons. While the weapons didn't damage the Grimm, they did get its attention.

"Now Ruby!" Jaune shouts.

Ruby dashes forwards, using her semblance to boost her speed. She slings Verdax's intact arm over her shoulders before running back, slightly slowed by the added weight. Retuning to the ruins, Ruby lays Verdax on his back, earning a grunt.

"Okay," Jaune said. "Now we wait for the teachers to come get us."

"I don't think we'll get that far." Ruby replied.

True to her words, the Taurus grabbed a large boulder and threw it at Weiss, Blake and Yang. The three dogged but the Grimm uses the advantage to rush at Yang before punching her into a tree. It then turned to the others and charged them. The forest roared with gunshots as the teens tried to keep the Grimm busy while avoiding getting hit at the same time. Ruby left Verdax with Jaune while she provided cover for the others with Crescent Rose.

'What now?' Jaune thought panicked as Verdax began to stir.

Verdax POV

His vision slowly returned as Verdax tried to sit up. He was met with a mix of numbness and pain that burned through his body. He'd heard noises, but they were muffled, almost like he was underwater. He shifted his weight to his right hand, only to fall back to the ground. He coughed, feeling a warm liquid pass over his lips.

'What's... happening...' Verdax thought.

With a final push, he straightens himself into a sitting position. Dizziness overtakes him as his vision switches between darkness and light. He faintly feels someone grab his shoulder, but he barely hears him or her as his blood roars in his ears.

"Where am I?" He asks groggily.

A cry of pain brings him out of his confusion. He looks to the source and is shocked by what he sees. The Taurus, still sporting the wounds he inflicted, was holding a battered and bloody Pyrrha by her right leg. The towering Grimm throws her into Weiss, knocking both to the ground. Verdax looks to see the others in a similar situation.

Yang is under a broken tree, Blake is trying to move the tree and Nora is unconscious with Ren trying to move her Weiss stands up and moves beside Ruby who is firing rounds into the Taurus. Verdax watches as the two wound-covered girls fight against the monstrosity before them.

"I need to help them." Verdax said, trying to rise.

"No Verdax!" A voice shouted to his right. He looked to see it was Jaune. "You are in no condition to fight!"

"I have to try! They'll die otherwise!"

Verdax reached for Omega with his right hand, only for nothing to happen. Looking down, he saw that his arm was severed just above the elbow. He absentmindedly waved his hand where his arm used to be, not fully registering that it's gone. Steeling himself, he grabs Omega and uses it to help stand up, ignoring Jaune's protests.

Verdax dashes forwards, despite the pain in his body. Before the Grimm could grab Weiss, Verdax slashed across its wrist, drawing black blood and making it recoil. He plants Omega's blade in the ground before him, slightly leaning on it for balance.

"You will not touch her!" He roars, earning a blush from the girl behind him.

The Taurus roars before charging. Verdax and Weiss leap to different sides to doge as the Grimm rammed into pillars behind them, knocking them down on to of it.

'I can't fight it like this.' Verdax thinks. 'My Aura is almost gone and I can't use Omega one-handed for long.'

Verdax looks to the others scattered across the clearing. Blake managed to get Yang from under the tree, Ren pulled Nora by Jaune, Shadow recovers slightly and is now lying by Jaune and the others, and Ruby and Weiss have come up behind him. Ruby shots him a concerned look, which he meets with a weak smile before turning back to the Taurus.

'Power.' He thinks. 'I need more power.'

Verdax focuses on drawing forth more energy, surrounding himself in a dim black and red glow. The Taurus climbs out of the rubble and stares Verdax down before charging forwards.

 _"How many times have I told you King?"_ A familiar voice suddenly says as Verdax's eyes widen in recognition. _"You can't die on me yet."_

The Taurus runs past as Verdax, Ruby and Weiss once again doge out of the way.

 _"I won't win this fight for you, but I will give you what you need to do so."_ The voice says.

'Who are you?' Verdax asks it.

All he heard was a chuckle. _"Spoilers."_

Suddenly Verdax felt immense pain from the stump that was his right arm. He looked to see that black blood was pouring from the wound, bubbling as if it was boiling. He cried out as the blood began to form a solid structure, slowly growing in length. Soon it formed a joint before extending and creating what appeared to be a hand. When the blood dried, it looked like his arm reformed, but the skin was black as night. Pain shot through once again when claws formed on the fingertips and bone-like armor grew on the front of his forearm and back of his hand. Two red markings formed in a parallel line along the armor, slightly glowing. At the same time, his wounds started to heal faster and his Aura refilled.

Before he could processes this, the Taurus charged again, swinging its fist to punch him. However instead of dogging, Verdax acted on instinct and caught its fist with his newly regenerated hand. The resulting shockwave created a crater beneath the two and knocked Weiss and Ruby back.

"I know I wanted a workout," Verdax said as his mask reformed. "But I think it's time to wrap this up and head home."

He pulled the Grimm forwards, knocking it off balance and severed its arm with Omega. The Taurus roared in pain as the severed limb began to dissipate into dark smoke. Verdax gathered his Aura in his right hand, surrounding it in a black and red torrent of energy, before lashing out with it; sending a short but powerful barrage of blasts at the Taurus. Once it was on the other end of the clearing, Verdax fired a precise beam of Aura from his clawed fingertips, shooting through the Grimm's leg and forcing it to its knee.

"Time to die bastard." Verdax stated calmly before taking Omega in both hands.

The others watched in amazement as Verdax lifted his massive scythe over his head and began to spin it around like a baton. As it built up speed, Verdax channeled Aura into the blade and his body. By the time the Taurus stood shakily on its feet, Verdax was already in the center of a black and red twister of energy. With a monstrous roar, He bright down Omega with both hands as he released the energy making it form a crescent wave as it moved. The wave traveled to its target, digging into the ground and distorting the air as it did so, until it collided with the Taurus. The towering monster was bisected from shoulder to hip as it cried out in pain. Both halves dispersed before the corpse hit the ground.

The clearing was silent as the inhabitants took in what happened. As Verdax's mask dispersed the voice said one more thing.

 _"That was the last of my help. You're on your own. Now let the wolf drink your blood."_

Verdax put away his scythes and walked to Shadow, ignoring the stares of the others. Kneeling before the Direwolf, he dug his claws into his left hand, allowing blood to flow from the wound. He offered the hand to Shadow, who began drinking it up. A moment later, the Direwolf was surrounded in a red glow before his wounds closed, he grew to the size of a car, and a bone-like ridge appeared on his back. Shadow then shrunk down back to his small size, the other changes still there, and walked up to Verdax, who pet him affectionately.

"I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!" Nora shouted.

They were interrupted by the sound of engines as a bullhead landed in the clearing. Three people dismounted the vehicle; the first was Glynda, the second was a heavyset man with grey hair and a blunderbuss axe, and the third was a pale man with green hair and glasses holding a thermos.

"As do we Mr. Ashen." She said while glaring at Verdax.

The other teachers moved to help Ruby and the others while Glynda stepped forwards to talk to Verdax.

"Professor Ozpin wants you to fill out a report of what just happened here, along with an extensive description about what you know about Grimm." She commanded.

"What for?" Verdax asked.

"We've never seen a Grimm like that and whatever you did to that Direwolf made it stronger. Not to mention your arm. We don't like unknowns."

Verdax was silent. "Alright, but on the condition that Shadow stays with me."

Glynda studied him for a few moments. "Fine, but he is confined to your dorm unless Professor Ozpin or myself tell you otherwise. Understood?"

Verdax nodded. As Glynda left he looked down to study his new Grimm-like arm. Sighing, he walks to check on the others, Shadow following behind him.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin announced.

By the time Verdax was cleared by the infirmary, much to his annoyance, they were already down to announcing the last teams in the auditorium. Shadow had to stay in Ozpin's office under Glynda's watch until Verdax could collect him.

"The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forth, you will work together as team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc."

Verdax joined in the applause that followed. He may not know Jaune all that well, but he seemed like a good kid. Verdax also joined the laughter when Pyrrha accidentally punched him to the floor.

"Next," Ozpin continued. "Blake Belledonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From now on you shall work together as team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

Verdax was impressed. Not only did she get moved up two years, but now Ruby was a team leader as well. He was slightly unnerved by the jealousy Weiss was emitting.

'I'll have to deal with that probably.' Verdax thinks.

"And finally," Ozpin speaks yet again. "Verdax Ashen."

As Verdax got on stage the people in the crowd began to whisper. Whatever unease people had around him was doubled thanks to his Grimm arm. He'd rolled up his sleeve on his trench coat, allowing it to be on display due to how uncomfortable it was when covered.

"You retrieved the Black Queen piece." Ozpin said. "However, all the other teams have been formed, leaving you the odd man out. Normally, something like this would lead to expulsion-"

"You can't!" Ruby cried, interrupting Ozpin.

"Ruby's right!" Yang shouted. "He saved our lives!"

"We do owe him a lot." Ren spoke up.

"I believe he's proven himself." Pyrrha said.

"He was AWESOME!" Nora shouted excitedly.

Verdax smirked at how they were ready to defend him. Ozpin held up a hand, silencing the outbursts.

"I said 'normally' this situation, however is not normal." He calmly informed them. "He will stay at Beacon, but he can't be on a team by himself, as that defeats the purpose of teams in the first place. So instead, Mr. Ashen will join the team of his choice."

Verdax looked around the room at the teams available to him. Since Ruby's outburst, their unease had gone down, but it was there. He looked around until he met Ruby's eyes and was caught off guard by what he saw. Hope. For the first time since he left the Grimmlings, someone didn't want to push him away, in fact, she hoped he would stay. He saw similar expressions on Blake and Yang, Weiss too, though reluctantly.

His mind made up, Verdax turned to Ozpin. "I want to join team RWBY, sir." He said with a prideful tone as he heard happy cheers behind him.

Ozpin smiled. "Then as of today you will work with them as team RWBY-V."

With a nod Verdax went to join his new team with a smile on his face.

0-0-0-0-0-0

 **Downtown Vale, Warehouse**

Roman Torchwick was standing at a table in front of a map of Vale. He slammed a phone on the table, frustrated. Sighing, he lights a new cigarette as he puts it in his mouth.

A White Fang soldier brings in a few crates. Roman hands him a stack of Lien.

"Open it." He orders.

Inside the crates are a large variety of Dust crystals. Roman takes time examining them before sighing.

"We're gonna need more men." He says before turning to the soldier.

"Tell Shiro to send some of his freaks."

 **AN: How's that for foreshadowing?**

 **As of right now there are going to be nine Grimmlings, Verdax and Shiro included. So I have a total of five Grimmlings already planned out, but I need four more. By next chapter I should have a character creation sheet for those of you that want to contribute to this.**

 **Please comment and leave a review!**


	12. Day One

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs, nothing else.**

Day One

The door opened again, and again light flooded the room. Verdax was used to it by now as the door was opened for any other reason. He stepped forwards into the same room he killed those Beowolves in five years ago.

He'd grown taller and developed a more athletic body. After the first fight, he learned the mask that helped him survive put a strain on his body, so he trained both in and out of combat to minimize this. True to the Voice's words, Verdax revived no more help form it, but that only made him more curious. He also discovered how to directly draw on his Aura and use it in attacks, which led to the discovery that his Aura-based attacks leave unrecoverable wounds, much to Aizen's delight.

The door shut behind Verdax like it always did. He waited, but no Grimm came from the other doors. He looked around, noting all the craters and claw marks along the walls and floors from his previous fights.

"Am I early?" Verdax called out. "If so I can go back to bed."

There was a loud crackle of static followed by a chuckle as the loudspeakers came on.

"That won't be necessary, 117." Aizen's voice said calmly.

Verdax frowned, having given up trying to get the scientists to use his real name long ago.

"Today," Aizen continued. "You will be moving on to stage two."

"Ooh, sounds ominous." Verdax commented sarcastically.

Suddenly, the door on the other end of the room opened. Out of it tumbled a woman with a white cloak. The woman had black hair with red highlights, wore a black skirt and corset, and had a white undershirt. Most notably though, were her silver eyes. Verdax didn't know why, but those eyes made him feel uneasy.

"Where am I?" She asked confused.

"117, meet Huntress Summer Rose. She will be your opponent today." Aizen announced.

"Opponent?" Summer and Verdax questioned.

"That's right. Stage two is testing your skills against a fully trained Hunter or Huntress. Same rules as stage one."

"Understood." Verdax said as he took a combat stance.

Summer thought for a moment before realizing her situation.

"You want me to fight him?" She demanded. "He's only a child!"

"I can assure you, Mrs. Rose," Verdax said calmly, making her turn to face him. "What I lack in age, I make up for in experience."

"And this is far more than fighting." Aizen informed. "No one leaves that room until one of you is dead."

Summer's eyes widened in horror. "You expect me to kill him!?"

"No Mrs. Rose, I expect you to die!" Verdax shouted as he fired an Aura blast from his hand.

Summer rolls out of the way of the attack, coming up on one knee. As she did, a panel in the floor opened up by her feet, where a sword came out. Her gaze flickered between the weapon and Verdax, as if she was trying to decide its necessity.

"I won't hold back." Verdax said. "You should probably take it."

Summer hesitated, but took the sword in her right hand. It was a simple one-handed sword, about three feet long.

"Why?" She asked. "Why go through the trouble of capturing me to test him?"

Aizen chuckled. "Don't put yourself on too high a pedestal. We captured dozens of Hunters and Huntresses to test our subjects."

"Why though?" Summer demanded. "What makes them so special?"

Aizen was silent, but Verdax started laughing.

"You really want to know?" He asked as he raised his left hand to his face. "Then let me show you the results of the hell I've lived through for the past five years!"

Verdax swiped his hand across his face, creating his mask. Two years ago, he first formed the mask completely, revealing its bone-like material with glowing red lines down each side. Having the mask on also changed his irises to red, and his sclera to black. The mask also distorted his voice, making it sound like a second, higher-pitched voice was speaking at the same time he did.

When the masked formed, Summer gasped in horror. Verdax smiled behind his mask, as he enjoyed her reaction.

"What did you bastards do to him!?" Summer demanded.

Aizen said nothing, but if Verdax knew him, then he's smiling at her words.

"Don't worry about what they did to me. You should be more concerned about what I'm going to do to you!" He shouted as he charged forwards.

Summer disappeared in a flurry of white petals as she dogged the two Aura-infused fists that slammed the ground where she stood.

"What did they do to you?" Summer asked softly as Verdax walked towards her slowly, his black and red Aura leaking off him like smoke.

Verdax was caught off guard. Summer had tears in her eyes and reeked of fear. But it wasn't fear _of_ him, no, it was fear _for_ him.

"When my parents were murdered by humans who thought we didn't deserve to live, the people here brought me in." Verdax told her. He didn't know why, but he felt like telling her.

"They cut me open, bled me dry, and filled me with Grimm organs and blood. Simply put, they made me half Grimm."

Summer had a shocked look on her face. Verdax could smell her rage towards the scientists and her sadness for him.

He smelled her pity.

She pitied him.

"I don't want you pity." Verdax growled, his Aura flaring up. "I am not ashamed of this power. With it I will help destroy humanity for what they did!"

Summer was taken back by his hostility. "You want to destroy humanity?"

"They took my parents from me!" Verdax roared as he released a wave of Aura at Summer, which she dogged. "I was alone and scared! No one would help simply because I was a Faunus! Every fucking day I had to go through trash, beg, plead, and even steal to survive!"

Verdax ran forwards, landing a roundhouse kick to her abdomen. Summer cried in pain as she was thrown against a wall.

Verdax growled as she fell to the floor. "I was kicked out of a church. A fucking CHURCH because of what I was born as! If humanity won't give help to a Faunus, then they will die to a monster!"

With a roar, Verdax brought both his hands forwards, unleashing a relentless torrent of Aura at Summer. The room was filled with black and red energy for a moment before it cleared up. Summer stood on her feet shakily as Verdax stood before her. Her clothes were singed by the blast and her body was covered in burns.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she coughed up blood.

"What?" Verdax demanded.

"I'm so sorry." Summer repeated.

Verdax lashed out, grabbing her throat with his left hand. He leaned in as his Aura rolled off him again, responding to his anger.

"You think you get to be sorry?" He shouted, the mouth of the mask opening as he talked. "After what your kind did to me?!"

Summer was silent for a moment, tears in her eyes. "You're right, I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I am sorry you had to go through that, I'm sorry about your parents, and I'm so sorry about what these people did to you."

Verdax's Aura lessened.

"But there are good humans out there." Summer continued. "And I hope one day you can meet them. I'll accept whatever you want to do to me."

Verdax was silent as his Aura died down. This woman was about to die; yet she still had the nerve to apologize. She didn't even want to kill him, even knowing what he is.

Maybe...

"They'll kill us both if I let you live." He whispered.

Summer nodded. "I know. Let's give them what they want."

Verdax let go of her throat as Summer disappeared in white petals before reappearing across the room, holding the sword in both hands. Verdax took his own position as the two stared each other down. They both charged forwards, running across the room. When they met at the middle, Summer swung the sword, aiming for his neck. Verdax caught the sword in his hand before whipping his body around in a circle, yanking the sword from her grip, and plunging it in her torso, breaking through her Aura in one attack.

Summer cried in pain as the sword ran through her body, making Verdax cringe. Her head slummed over his body, her weight making him collapse to his knees, holding the woman with his right hand.

"I'm sorry." Verdax whispered as his mask dispersed.

Summer smiled. "Don't be." She said weakly as she gently placed her hand on the left side of his face. "But before I die, can I know your name?"

Verdax took her hand. "Verdax, Verdax Ashen."

She smiled. "Nice... to meet... you..." She said as her eyes closed and her body became a still. Removing the sword from the corpse, he laid Summer's body on the ground gently. Verdax tuned out whatever Aizen said as he dropped the bloody weapon and returned to his room.

Once the door closed he sat in a corner, where he cried for the first time in years.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Verdax drowsily woke up, the sunlight shining in his eyes. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. Shadow, who slept next to him, raised his head and released a small yawn. Verdax sat up from his mat on the floor, stretching, before a loud piercing noise made him cover his ears.

"Good morning team RWBY-V!" Ruby cheered, holding a whistle. She was dressed in the school uniform that was handed out to the teams during dorm assignment.

"What the hell Ruby!?" Verdax cried, still holding his ears. "I thought we were friends!"

"What in the world are you doing!?" Weiss demanded, having been startled off her own bed.

"Now that you're both awake we can get to our first order of business!" Ruby said excitedly.

"What?" Weiss and Verdax asked.

"Decorating!" Yang shouted while holding a large amount of stuff. She and Blake were also in their uniforms.

"We still have to unpack." Blake said as she held up a suitcase, which opened and spilt its contents onto the floor. "And clean."

Ruby turned to Verdax and Weiss, about to blow the whistle again when she stopped. "Verdax, are you okay?" She asked, causing the others to look in his direction, surprised by what they saw.

"Yeah, why?" He responded.

"You're crying." Yang pointed out.

Verdax reached his Grimm hand up to his face, feeling a single tear under his left eye. He stares at the liquid in his hand for a moment before remembering his dream.

"It's nothing." He said stoically.

"But-" Ruby began.

"I said it's nothing!"

The room was quiet for a few moments before the team began to decorate like nothing happened.

0-0-0

Yang put up a poster of the popular show Achieve Men, Weiss hung a few paintings, Ruby used Crescent Rose to hag the curtains before accidentally cutting them in half, and Blake and Verdax unloaded books onto the shelf with Shadow sitting between them.

Blake had put most of them on the shelf before remembering a certain one she didn't want the others to see. She looks frantically for it before spotting it in Verdax's hands.

Verdax had picked up the book because it said ninjas on the cover. Reading the book however, his face became red as he got to the centerfold, which he opened.

"Now that's a katana." Verdax said, looking at the image.

Blake yanked the book from his grip, her face red.

"Nooo!" Verdax cried. "I have to know how it ends!"

0-0-0

The team lined up by the door, examining their room. Weiss and Verdax got dressed in the school's uniforms. Verdax however, ditched the tie when he almost choked himself three times.

"Who invented this death trap?!" He'd demanded.

Their main concern now was the organization of the room.

"This isn't going to work." Weiss said, talking about the beds now piled in the center of the room.

"It is a bit cramped." Blake commented.

Weiss immediately turned to Verdax. "This is your fault! These rooms are meant for four people, not five!"

Verdax just stared at her. "You're right. I'll tell you what, let me just move all that stuff I don't own." He said sarcastically.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Yang suggested, trying to change the subject.

"Or we could ditch the beds," Ruby thought. "And replace them with bunk beds!"

"That might work." Verdax said.

"It sounds dangerous." Weiss commented.

"And super awesome!" Yang shouted.

"It would be more efficient." Blake stated.

"I think we should put it to a vote!" Weiss said.

"Pretty sure we just did." Verdax commented.

With that the team raced forwards. Shadow stayed by the door, tilting his head as he watched the team try to reconfigure the beds. After a few minutes they stepped back to admire their handiwork.

Weiss and Blake's beds were on the ground like normal, but Yang's bed was stacked on top of a few towers of books on Blake's bedposts. The real miracle was Ruby's bed, which was hung from the ceiling above Weiss's bed by ropes.

"I've seen more structural integrity from a sand castle." Verdax deadpanned.

"Where's Verdax gonna sleep?" Blake asked.

The girls looked at each other before Verdax spoke up.

"I'll just use the mat I slept on last night." He said. "You guys don't have to worry about me."

The girls accepted this as a good answer before moving on.

"Now that that's taken care of," Ruby said, "Our second order of business is classes."

Ruby pulled out a schedule. "Now, today the classes are shorter as a means of letting students be familiar with the schedule, and the rest of the day is meant for teams to adjust. Our first class is at nine..."

"Did you say nine?" Weiss asked as Verdax reached for his scroll.

"Yeah..." Ruby trailed off.

"It's seventy five degrees!" Verdax shouted. Silence fell in the room for a moment.

"My bad, this is a thermometer." He said as he changed apps. "It's eight fifty five."

With that comment, team RWBY-V bolted from their dorm, leaving Shadow behind. Team JNPR followed afterwards, being in the same boat as them. The two teams ran across the courtyard, being watched by an amused Ozpin and annoyed Goodwitch.

0-0-0

"Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night." Said the man from yesterday, who introduced himself as Professor Port. "Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey, ha ha!"

Verdax was bored out of his mind. Grimm studies was the last class of today and he already knew the material better than the teacher. Even if that wasn't the case, Port clearly tried too hard to entertain his students.

Verdax just fiddled with his Grimm arm while he listened to Port go on about 'the duties of Huntsmen and Huntresses', although he felt like punching the guy after he appeared to check out Yang. He was about to fall asleep when he saw Ruby drawing on her notes.

She held up the paper to show a crude drawing of Port, which Verdax gave a light chuckle at. Port cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the classroom. He then proceeded to wrap up his story, but Verdax was more interested in the spike of rage coming from Weiss.

"Who here believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port asked.

Weiss's hand shot up. "I do sir!" She called out.

"Well then," He said. "Come and face your opponent."

Port gestured to a large cage to the side of the classroom that contained a Boarbotusk. Seeing the creature gave Verdax a quick flashback of Aaron.

'How did we not notice that until he pointed it out?' Verdax wondered before he shook himself out of those thoughts.

Once Weiss left the classroom to get her combat gear, Port turned towards Verdax.

"Mr. Ashen," He said. "While we're waiting for Miss Schnee, I was wondering if you would be willing to cover Grimm evolution for the class?"

Verdax raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked.

"You wrote the report covering it for Ozpin, and he asked me to add it to the curriculum. However, since you're in this class, I thought you might be better suited to explain it." Port stated.

Verdax thought for a moment before rising from his seat and walking to the front of the class.

"Alright. Ruby, take some notes for Weiss." He said, earning a nod from the team leader as she pulled out a journal.

Verdax cleared his throat. "To begin, I'll start with the basic and most important fact for Grimm evolution." He stated.

"One of the most prominent facts about Grimm that most of you will remember being told is that they have no Aura, right?" This earned a nod from the class. "Well, truth be told, that's bullshit."

The room went quiet. "You see," Verdax continued as he paced the room. "All Grimm are still living creatures, therefore they have a soul, and thus they have Aura. Yes, their soul and Aura are darker, but it's there."

"But then why are the more susceptible to bullets and weapons like other Auraless beings?" Blake asked.

"That is actually where the misconception comes from." Verdax said. "Grimm are divided into four classes. Delta, Beta, Alpha, and Primordial."

Verdax paused to let Ruby catch up with the notes.

"The most common Grimm by eighty-five percent is Delta." He continued. "This class of Grimm's Aura levels is low enough that a slingshot could damage it. However, as a Grimm evolves, its capacity for Aura increases."

"What about the other stages?" A student in the back asked.

"Not much else to tell about them." Verdax said. "As a Grimm evolves, it gains more Aura to use in attacks, defense and a healing factor. Once a Grimm becomes a Beta, their Arua is thick enough to deflect anything less than an Armor piercing round. They are also capable of learning, as evidenced by how the Goliaths never travel close to the Kingdom's borders.

Verdax could smell the unease run through the students.

"What about Primordials?" Yang asked.

"Pray to Oum you don't fight one." Verdax responded darkly. "Any Grimm who has lived long enough to achieve Primordial status is not only immensely powerful, but is smart enough to use that power to its full extent."

"How strong are they?" Port asked.

"They have enough Aura that being in one's presence is equal to being fifty feet under water." Verdax answered. "A single one could destroy four fifths of Vale before dying. The reason they haven't is because there aren't any left, supposedly."

The room was quiet as everyone took this in. Some of them were drenched in fear and depression. Ruby raised her hand.

"How does a Grimm evolve?" She questioned.

Verdax took a second to think. "It can happen naturally, taking up to centuries to do. But there are ways of speeding it up. The first is that a Grimm consumes the soul and Aura of another living thing, be it an animal or another human or Faunus, adding it to its own. The second is to consume another Grimm and obtain its power."

"Centuries?" Jaune asked.

"Grimm have a healing factor." Verdax explained. "This means their body is constantly repairing itself. When you think about it, death is when the body decays to the point it can no longer support life. According to this definition, Grimm will live forever until they fall in battle."

Verdax looked around as the class takes this information in. "Anything else?" He asked.

Ruby spoke up. "How do the Grimm reproduce?"

Verdax blinked. "Well... they can produce offspring sexually, but most Grim are created in birthing pits, don't ask what's in them. I knew someone who said the first Grimm were created from the blood of the Primordials, but I don't know what he meant."

Before anyone could say more, Weiss came into the classroom, dressed in her combat gear.

"Ah, Miss Schnee." Port said before turning to Verdax. "Thank you for the lesson Mr. Ashen. Please return to your seat."

Verdax walked back, passing Weiss as he did. "Ruby took notes while you were gone." He said.

The only acknowledgement he got was a huff and the scent of annoyance as Weiss made her way to the front of the class. Verdax frowned; something about Ruby was bothering her. He decided to ask after class. He took his seat as Weiss took her fighting stance.

"Go Weiss!" Yang cheered.

"Fight well!" Blake said while waving a flag that had 'RWBY-V on it.

"Yeah! Represent team RWBY-V!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus." Weiss replied.

"Oh, sorry." Ruby said quietly.

"Alright, let the match begin!" Port exclaimed as he opened the cage, allowing the Boarbotusk to charge into the classroom.

Weiss sidestepped as the Grimm ran passed, turning around as it did. The two stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move.

"You've got this!" Verdax shouted.

Weiss cast him a look of annoyance before she and the Grimm charged each other. As they met in the middle, the Boarbotusk got Myrtenaster caught in its tusks before yanking it from her grip and throwing it across the room, knocking her back in the process.

"Oh, now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked.

The Grimm charged again, forcing Weiss to doge. With the Boarbotusk distracted, she raced across the room and picked up her weapon as she returned to a combat position.

"Weiss! Boarbotusk can build momentum by spinning in place!" Verdax informed her. "Once it charges again you should have an opening!"

"Go for its belly!" Ruby exclaimed. "There's no armor-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss shouted.

Ruby appeared crestfallen while Verdax narrowed his eyes.

As Verdax said, the Boarbotusk began spinning in place before launching itself forwards. Weiss put up a glyph in its path, causing the Grimm to crash and land on its back. Weiss took advantage of this, and stabbed Myrtenaster through its belly and into its heart, killing it instantly.

"Bravo!" Port called out. "It appears we are in the presence of a true huntresses in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, be sure to cover the assigned readings and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

Weiss left the classroom in a huff, leaving the others confused, but Verdax had a good idea what was going on. Ruby followed Weiss out, and Verdax decided to let them talk before speaking to the heiress.

Blake and Yang looked worried, but Verdax calmed them, saying he would check on them.

By the time he caught up with the two, Weiss had already walked off. "Ozpin made a mistake." She said. Verdax opted to follow Weiss, noting that Ozpin was approaching Ruby.

Verdax caught up with Weiss in the courtyard. "So the headmaster made a mistake did he?" He asked, startling the heiress.

"What do you want?" She demanded.

"Honestly? I want to know what the Hell your problem is." Verdax said.

"My problem?!"

"Ruby was only trying to help and you practically bit her head off."

"Someone like her doesn't belong here!"

"By that logic neither does anyone else. Ruby worked just as hard as you or anyone who was on the airship to be here and has earned her position as a leader."

"How?!"

"Blake and Yang told me about what happened in your fight with the Nevermore. In all honesty that kind of a plan was brilliant and Ruby thought of it on the fly, which is more impressive."

Weiss remained silent.

"However," Verdax continued. "This isn't completely about Ruby is it?"

Weiss just looked at him.

"When I look at you, is see someone who spent their whole life getting what they wanted at the snap of their fingers."

"That's not-" Weiss started, only to be stopped by Verdax.

"Weiss, even if it was a bad choice to make Ruby a leader, do you think acting as you have been will make those in power choose you over her?"

Weiss was silent and looked at her feet as Verdax put a hand on her shoulder.

"So, instead of trying to be a good leader, you should be the best teammate you can. Because even if you're not in charge, we're all still counting on you."

With that, Verdax began to walk away before turning to face Weiss once more.

"By the way," He said, catching her attention. "I was wondering if the name 'Shiro' meant anything to you?"

Weiss had a thoughtful look on her face. "It sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Why do you ask?"

Verdax shook his head. "It's nothing." He replied before walking back to the dorms.

'I guess I was imagining things.' He thought.

 **AN: I'm going to say this now to avoid rage in the reviews: yes, Verdax killed Summer kind of easily but that doesn't mean he was stronger than her. If that was any other situation Verdax would probably have been a stain on the floor, but I believe that Summer would not kill a child, even Verdax, and since she would have died either way then she would at least make sure that Verdax lived.**

 **I put down my theory about the Grimm in this chapter because teams RWBY and JNPR almost died when they didn't know about it, so I thought I would put it out there for yours and the character's sakes.**

 **Nest chapter will take a while because its going to be and original arc featuring an all-new Grimm.**

 **The Grimmling sheet is right under the Author's Note, please PM me the character sheets. I look forward to seeing what you guys send me!**

 **Edit: I realized I left some stuff out when I made this chapter, so i fixed that.**

 **Leave a review! I enjoy feedback!**

 **Next Chapter: The Stalker.**

Grimmling Sheet

Name:

Type of Faunus (yes it has to be a Faunus):

Appearance:

Personality:

Weapon:

Aura Color:

Grimm:

Powers from Grimm:

Weaknesses:

Additional Facts:


	13. Announcement

**Announcement**

 **I regret to inform you all that this story will be undergoing a rewrite. I've been looking over my work and decided that there were too many things I could have - and should have - done better. I apologize to those who were waiting for the next arc, but I feel like I can improve the story before reaching that point.**

 **For your convenience I have made a list of the changes that will appear in the rewrite.**

 **For Verdax:**

 **New weapon**

 **Different starting personality**

 **New semblance**

 **Will be stronger**

 **Still a wolf Faunus, but no tail**

 **General Changes:**

 **Shadow will not present**

 **Grimm evolution will still be prominent**

 **Pairing will be toned down to one person, but the options will be expanded**

 **In regards to the pairing, there will be a poll set up on my profile set up by the time this is up and will last until August 1** **st** **. Everyone will be able to cast two votes.  
**

 **Thanks to** **wolfmman12281337for being the first to submit a Grimmling sheet.** **I still need sheets from anyone willing to contribute a character.**

 **I want to thank you all for sticking with the story for this long and reading each chapter that came out, it makes me feel good. I hope you all enjoy the rewrite and feel free to PM me any questions you have.**

 **SolarTitan signing off.**


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